On Thursday 2 July, the Commission published a report assessing the transposition of the Arrest Warrant in 27 Member States and the United Kingdom since 2004, which it considers “rather satisfactory”, it explained in a press release.
Nearly 7,000 persons have been surrendered across borders in 2018, according to the latest statistics. In that year, 17,471 warrants were issued in 27 Member States, a figure close to that recorded in 2017, with 17,491 warrants issued in 28 Member States.
A total of 185,575 European arrest warrants have been issued since 2005 and, according to the report, 56,298 of them have been executed.
As in previous years, the Commission adds, the most common categories of crime in 2018 were theft and vandalism (2,893 European arrest warrants), fraud and corruption (1,739 warrants) and drug-related offences (1,610 warrants). The time between the arrest and the decision on surrender is 16 days on average when the person consents to surrender and 45 days in case of refusal.
The Commission notes a number of positive points, such as the fact that most Member States respect the transposition of the deadline for surrendering wanted persons (maximum 10 days after the decision to execute the warrant when the person concerned agrees, 60 days when they do not).
But it also observes irregularities “with a number of compliance problems, including additional grounds for refusal and failure to meet deadlines (30 additional days beyond the 60 days, when the warrant cannot be executed within the time limits)”.
“Unless remedied, such deficiencies limit the effectiveness of the European arrest warrant”, the institution explained.
Some Member States have also not yet amended their legislation to comply with a series of Court of Justice judgments aimed at clarifying the operation of the European arrest warrant.
The number of references for preliminary rulings to the Court of Justice concerning the European arrest warrant has also increased rapidly in recent years, from 12 in 2014 to more than 50 in mid-2020, the Commission notes, an increase which it explains by “limitations of the judicial control by the Court of Justice in the area of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters were lifted on 1 December 2014”.
It should be noted that the United Kingdom no longer wishes to participate in this judicial tool and is negotiating a new extradition arrangement with the Member States.
Link to the report: https://bit.ly/38r5jBf (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)