Sweden is suggesting a new ‘SecEUrity Package’ to its partners and wants the new Commission to bring about “a fundamental change of perspectives in EU efforts to fight organised crime and terrorism”, according to a document seen by Agence Europe and revealed by EUobserver on Wednesday 24 July.
The document was not discussed at the informal meeting of EU interior ministers in Budapest on 22 July, but Sweden had raised the subject in June during an ‘any other business’ item at the formal EU ‘Home Affairs’ Council.
“Within the remit of its competence, policy initiatives for the coming five years should be guided by the perspective of victims and society’s legitimate interest in the protection against crime. We suggest a New SecEUrity Package composed of the following elements: - creating adequate EU institutional working methods; - follow the money - access to digital data; - making the most of operational support.
For Sweden, while the EU has managed to agree on a number of initiatives in recent years, proposals with crime fighting purposes are too often watered down during the legislative process in the name of the imbalance of interests in relation to fundamental rights (including the right to privacy) and distrust towards law enforcement agencies.
“Law enforcement agencies and other actors focusing on victims’ rights and crime prevention need to have a stronger say in the EU policy making process”.
The proposed package aims to create appropriate institutional working methods that restore the balance between the right to security and the right to privacy.
Member States must also be able to take “relevant measures at national level when needed, taking into account the context and problems of each Member State”.
The Commission should rely on the work of the High-Level Group on Access to Data for effective law enforcement, launched at the beginning of 2023, which recommends in particular “capacity building (such as strengthening the role of Europol in gathering and sharing best practices”.
It is necessary as well to monitor the flow of illicit profits even more closely and “ensure that Europol and Eurojust are given the basis to work effectively and efficiently”.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/d3v (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)