Brussels, 30/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The EP's Freedoms and Justice Committee invites the plenary to approve the creation and continuation of several cooperation and exchange programmes for legal practitioners in the civil, penal and preventative fields, as well as for the prosecution services and those responsible for the fight against the trafficking in human beings. The European Parliament is simply consulted over these issues. Two reports, drafted by Margot Kessler (ESP, Germany), propose that the EP:
Approve, with a few modifications, the proposal to create a European legal network in civil and commercial matters. The MEPs notably call for the creation of a data base regrouping the general list of cases brought before the courts and the register of related legal decisions. They also underline that this new network should cooperate with the penal legal network in order to draw from its experiences;
Mark it assent for: 1) the postponing of the Grotius exchange, cooperation and training programme for legal practitioners (general and penal aspects, the civil already being adopted); 2) the second phase of the exchange, cooperation and training programme from the prosecution services of the Member States (OISIN II); 3) the STOP II exchange, cooperation and training programme aimed at those responsible for the fight against the trafficking of human beings and the sexual exploitation of children; 4) the creation of a Hippokrates exchange, cooperation and training programme in the field of organised crime prevention. The EU 15 have already approved this programme during the last Justice and Home Affairs Council and await the opinion of the European Parliament to formally adopt it.