Brussels, 03/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - The first day of the informal meeting of ministers of justice and home affairs, in Lisbon on Friday, began with an interesting debate, in the presence of the Secretary General and High Representative Javier Solana, on the role to provide the policy forces in the framework of international peace-keeping missions (in the light of a concrete request aimed at stepping up the police presence in Kosovo), and by a breakthrough in the "scoreboard" that is to lead to the setting up of an Area of Freedom, Justice and Security. Here is an overview of the first part o the meeting (EUROPE will return to the results of the meeting as a whole):
- Use of police forces in the framework of non-military crises. Ministers heard Javier Solana ask them to place an additional 455 police officers at the disposal of the Peace Mission in Kosovo, pointing out that it was in their interest, as not restoring order and the respect of law would amount to being burdened with a source of political instability and a bastion of organised crime that would lead to negative consequences within the EU itself. Appeal that did not fall on deaf ears on the part of most delegations, with Germany announcing that its contingent would be increased from 220 to 400 police officers, whereas Denmark's would go from 20 to 28.
The role that police forces could be asked to play in future in the framework of crisis management, however, led to more cautious reactions. Several ministers backed France's Chevenement when he said that, in the context of such missions outside the borders, it could not be a question of police officers not having had adequate training (for the French Minister, they must, for example, be able to understand the language of the place they are sent to and that they know the laws that apply there). A majority of delegations finally came down in favour of deeper reflection on all the potential implications of such actions.
- "Scoreboard". Commissioner Antonio Vitorino presented the plan as it already exists at this stage, without failing to stress that he was still only presenting "blanks", as well as a number of question marks. He very clearly explained that Member States could not expect everything of the Commission, the latter not having all the necessary expertise in certain domains. Whence, he launched an appeal for a partnership between the Commission and Member States, reminding the latter that, in this field, they had the right of co-initiative. The message was received "loud and clear", with some delegations announcing initiatives in the following fields: a) combating damage to the environment (Denmark, Sweden); b) combating money laundering (France, backed by Germany and Britain); c) speeding up decisions to take in favour of uniting families (Sweden backed by Austria, whereas Germany referred to difficulties in the matter); - d) action against hooliganism (Belgium and the Netherlands). The finalised scoreboard could be ready for the formal JHA Council of 27 March.
- Crime prevention. Ministers declared themselves in agreement for holding a high-level conference (probably in the Algarve of 4/5 May), while stressing the need for it to be well targeted (organised crime) and that it should lead to concrete measures. Mr. Vitorino stressed that the principle of subsidiarity should be fully implemented in the matter (in other words, the fight against delinquency in the suburbs, although the thin wedge of organised crime, lies within the responsibility of Member States).
Ministers continued work in the evening on Eurojust (see yesterday's EUROPE, pp.7/8).
