Brussels, 18/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - Following their Summit last 19 March (see EUROPE of 22 March, p.4) the Heads of State and Government of the Benelux countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) made the firm undertaking to cooperate more closely through the adopting of a "Benelux Memorandum" outlining dossiers qualified as "urgent" (which we find in the "scoreboard" presented by the European Commission and in the conclusions of the Tampere Summit of 15 and 16 October 1999: see among others EUROPE of 23 November 2000). The final assessment of these dossiers is expected for the Laeken summit. This Memorandum anticipates, to a certain extent, the programme of the Belgian Presidency of the EU in the field of JHA, programme which will be finalised in June, in the light, in particular, of the results gained by the Swedish Presidency during the JHA Council on 28 and 29 May in Brussels.
It can be seen in the Benelux Memorandum that, in the face of an assessment that seems mitigated and which risks appearing to be a step back compared to the expectations of public opinion, the Benelux will try to formulate a voluntarist political message renewing the undertaking made by the EU 15 to move forward in the building of a common area of freedom, security and justice, and will defend a programme of priorities whose core axis is the development of an asylum and immigrations policy as well as the fight against the trafficking of human beings. The Memorandum underlines that "the countries of the Benelux are keen for a better coordination of their positions in order to accelerate the works and will work towards reaching a political agreement each time such a result is possible given the positions of the other parties. Such coordination will be followed after Laeken, notably in the aim of steering the partners of the European Union towards the defining of multi-Presidency programmes. The Benelux will thus establish "mechanisms allowing for regular coordination in the run up to the Councils, Coreper, Committees and, where possible, working groups, complemented, if need be, by joint moves with third countries. The Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs from the Benelux are invited to carry out the first assessments of this coordination for the next Benelux Summit, which should take place towards the end of the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council.
With regards to the priorities, the Memorandum insists on:
1. An area of open and controllable freedom thanks to: a) a common and shared asylum policy faithful to the European tradition of the protection of refugees. In this context, the Benelux is in favour of the rapid adoption of Community legislation defining the core rules and principals in terms of asylum, in order to be able to decide by qualified majority; b) a common and balanced immigration policy. The Belgian Presidency and the European Commission will organise next October a conference to find paths for reflection concerning a global policy integrating several aspects: prevention and the development partnerships with the countries of origin, management of the migratory flows, economic migration, integration. The other aims of the Belgian Presidency will be the fight against illegal immigration, the development of a coherent policy in terms of repatriation supported by readmission agreements the enhancing of present and future border checks for the EU (an exercise that the Presidency will undertake with the candidate countries), bringing together the status of legal long-term residents and that of EU citizens, the harmonisation of conditions for maintaining the family unit;
2. Area of security guaranteed by a common policy to fight against organised crime by: 1) enhancing cooperation in penal matters thanks to the establishment of Eurojust and the mutual recognition of penal decisions; 2) the strengthening and rationalisation of police cooperation by widening and making more operational the Europol mandate; 3) harmonising, in close collaboration with the Commission, the incriminations and sanctions in the following priority areas: trafficking in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children, racism and xenophobia;
3. Area of effective, transparent and accessible justice, thanks to the implementation of the principal of the mutual recognition of decisions in civil and commercial matters, unchallenged claims (right to visit children, gaining of proof, legal assistance).