Brussels, 06/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission stresses the difficulties in progressing in European-wide alignment of legislation regarding justice and home affairs, in an assessment that tends to be "globally positive" but accompanied by serious criticisms regarding the reluctance of Member States. The Community executive took advantage of its half-yearly exercise of updating the scoreboard for justice and home affairs to make a short assessment of the implementation of the timetable adopted by the Heads of State and Government in October 1999. This document is intended to fuel discussions among the Fifteen, who should debate implementation of the Tampere programme at the Laeken Summit. In its assessment, the Commission stresses progress and difficulties, but does not broach the problem of methodology and frictions that have at times appeared between the Commission and the Council on the right of initiative in JHA which emerged, for example, regarding the adoption of a common incrimination for crimes against the environment.
"The initiative taken in Tampere of raising the goal of creating an area of freedom, security and justice to the top of the Union's priorities has clearly borne fruit", says the Commission. As proof, it points to "the impressive investment in time and energy" devoted to it, and the fact that all issues "are clearly on the table, in all their details". Nevertheless, achievement of the Tampere goals is lagging behind and in real difficulty - that is probably why the Commission is asking the Fifteen to confirm in Laeken that "they really believe what they declared in Tampere"! The Commission warns Member States "that they cannot allow themselves to conclude that the Tampere objectives were too ambitious", and considers that the positions taken following the attacks of 11 September confirm that the Fifteen want to rapidly create a Europe of Justice and Security.
Among the positive points of the assessment, the Commission stresses the "major progress" that is the "general acceptance of the notion of mutual recognition of court decisions as practical means of overcoming differences" between the legal systems of the Member States. This principle was "set in concrete" with the Brussels I and II regulation and other texts that form a "solid basis" regarding recognition of civil decisions, notes the Commission, while emphasising that more progress is needed in the total abolition of the exequatur. In the field of criminality, rapid adoption of the proposal for a European arrest warrant would be "a key indicator of the will of Member States". The Commission then notes the "difficulties" encountered in efforts aimed at aligning criminal legislation, observing that the issue of penalties is often the main stumbling block. The Commission hopes that the Laeken Summit will provide "renewed impetus" (combating drug trafficking, sexual exploitation of children…), and here too notes that adoption of its proposal for the alignment of the definition of and penalties for terrorism will be a test. Progress has already been made in this field: the agreement secured on 28 September on the framework-decision relating to the trafficking in human beings.
The Commission, moreover, criticises the fact that "the Tampere deadlines have not been respected in certain areas requiring legislation", and underpins that, by calling "unambiguously for common policies in several clearly-defined fields", the Heads of State and Government know full well that this requires certain adjustments to national policies, whereas discussions in Council then demonstrated "a persistent determination by Member States to ensure that any common policy involves the least possible adjustments to national approaches". The Commission considers that the "areas of asylum and immigration particularly illustrate this phenomenon".
Finally, the Commission turns to the creation of the different bodies provided for at Tampere (strengthening of Europol, creation of Eurojust, Task force of Police Chiefs…) to underpin, on the one hand, that "the task of ensuring co-ordinating" between these young structures will be very important, and, on the other, the Fifteen have still not provided Europol with a really important role.