Brussels, 28/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - At Monday's Justice and Home Affairs Council, the Fifteen did not reach an agreement on the framework decision on fighting the trade in humans or, at least by the end of the afternoon, on the protocol to Convention 2000 relating to judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The discussions, which were hard going, should however continue at the end of the afternoon and also probably on Tuesday morning on this second point, on the basis of a compromise proposed by the Presidency. While the JHA Council is the last under Swedish Presidency, the Swedish minister began by saying he was "very pleased with the consensus reached on the trade in humans" before going on to acknowledge that there was no agreement on sanctions. During the afternoon, the Fifteen had tackled the following points:
- Protocol to the Convention 2000 on judicial cooperation in criminal matters (see below).
- Combating the trafficking of human beings. After a lengthy debate, ministers admitted that there could not be true cooperation until there is a common definition of crime and the sanctions that go with it, states the spokesman. Ministers reached "a political consensus for new European criminal legislation against the trade in humans", said Thomas Bodstrom, but "did not reach agreement on the scale of sanctions to be applied" (the Presidency compromise proposed a maximum penalty of at least 8 years in every national legislation: see EUROPE of 23 May). The Presidency pointed out that work must continue at the level of the penal group. The Austrian and Danish delegations, for their part, suggested that the Commission develop a complementary study on how applicable the law is in Member States in order to "seek a mechanism to find a common penalty". EUROPE recalls that the Commission proposed, last December, common definitions of the trade in humans and of sexual exploitation of children, with a view to uniform sanctions and cooperation between the Fifteen (see EUROPE of 23 December 2000). The issue will be on the table of the Belgian EU Presidency, during the JHA Council on 29 November.
- recording witness statements in civil and company cases: the Council reached agreement on this draft Regulation designed to facilitate the collection of statements during a trial from another Member State by the court ruling on the case or by a court in the country where the witness is based. The draft Regulation lays down details for the proceedings (language, deadline which, where possible, should not exceed 90 days, etc), along with standard forms for the procedure to be followed. The United Kingdom and Ireland decided to adopt the Regulation with a special clause on justice and internal affairs, but Denmark decided not to adopt it.
- negotiations over the new The Hague Convention: Ministers agreed on a negotiating position for the International Conference at The Hague on a Convention on the competence of foreign legal systems and rulings in civil and company law. The Swedish Minister refused to comment on this issue (discussed in a restricted meeting) or even about how it meshes with discussions on the future European Brussels II Convention which will largely cover the same points, in order to preserve the "confidentiality" of the European negotiating position ahead of the Conference (which will start on 6 June).
Over dinner, the EU discussed enlargement where France (with the support of Germany and Belgium) called for a greater effort to be made by the candidate countries. No decisions were taken or initiatives launched in this connection.
The discussions continued in the afternoon on the temporary protection of refugees, family regroupment, protecting the Euro from counterfeiting and funding the Schengen Information System. Among the thirty or so documents adopted with out debate (point A) were the adoption of a Council Framework Decision on fighting fraud and counterfeit non-cash payments, the creation of a European crime prevention network and a European legal network for civil and company law. EUROPE will consider these issues in more detail tomorrow, along with the Mixed Committee with Iceland and Norway which will be held on Tuesday morning and will discuss the Protocol to the Convention on mutual assistance in criminal cases, illegal immigration (particularly via the Balkans) and lorry drivers' liability in the event of clandestine immigration.