On Thursday 14 June the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and representatives from the European Parliament reached a principled agreement on the draft regulation introducing a mutual recognition mechanism for decisions taken by the member states on the freezing and confiscation of criminal assets.
It should be recalled that the last point that still needed to be settled, which gave the co-legislators such a hard time, involved the formulation of the non-recognition and non-implementation clause for decisions to freeze and confiscate criminal assets, based on the non-respect of fundamental rights (see EUROPE 12031).
On Wednesday at the end of the day, the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper) approved a compromise text that amended the version from the Bulgarian Presidency of the 12 June (see EUROPE 12040) and it was this new version that allowed for an agreement to be obtained.
The new version of the clause maintains the reference, as sought by the Council, to an effective remedy, a fair trial and defence, as contained within the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, but adds, “without excluding other relevant fundamental rights set out therein” in compliance with Parliament's wishes to have an “open list”.
It should be noted that the reference to fundamental rights guaranteed by article 6 of the Treaty was withdrawn from the clause and recital 26c, but an additional guarantee was added to article 1, paragraph 2, which outlines that “This Regulation shall not have the effect of modifying the obligation to respect the fundamental rights and legal principles as enshrined in Article 6 TEU”.
The new rules expand the scope to include different kinds of confiscation and guarantee respect for the victims' rights to compensation and restitution. The co-legislators also shortened the deadline for implementation by the member states for decisions on the freezing and confiscation of assets to 45 days instead of 60. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)