Brussels, 12/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament will rule on 17 December over the creation of the European arrest warrant. On Thursday morning, 276 MEPs against 84 (and 1 abstention) voted for the European Parliament to urgently statute on this text, over which it is only consulted. Once this opinion is given, the Council will be able to definitively adopt the framework decision instituting the European arrest warrant. It could do so, either on the sidelines of the Agriculture Council on 19 December, or during on the first Councils of the Spanish Presidency (Agriculture on 21 January, Ecofin on 22 January…). On Wednesday, the Committee of permanent representatives confirmed the unanimous agreement over the mandate, after Italy, which blocked the text's adoption, folded under pressure from its partners.
What is the scope of a framework decision? Notably in the light of the Italian unilateral declaration and the statements by Silvio Berlusconi, who let it be known that Italy would not replace the extradition with the European arrest warrant on 1 January 2004, if it has not carried out the necessary reforms (see yesterday's Europe, p.14), it may be useful to recall the exact scope of a framework decision adopted on the basis of the third pillar of the Treaties. If the Member States are opposed over the interpretation or implementation of a framework decision and that the Council is unable to resolve the issue within the six months that follow the referral by a Member State, the Court will be called upon to rule over this dispute. In the Court of Justice, there is no memory of such a case. If the Court cannot rule over the interpretation or application, it in no way concerns a binding case. The infringement proceedings, through which the Commission or a Member State may call upon the Court to request that it condemn a Member States, which fails in its obligations, and to have it pay is fine if it does not conform with the ruling, does not apply to a framework decision taken on the basis of the third pillar (EU Treaty and not Community Treaty) and would not apply to the European arrest warrant. No Member State could thus be forced to apply the framework decision, if it is only due to political pressure. The Commission will be unable to refer to the Court of Justice. The Court is also competent to verify the legality of a framework decision (violation of the Treaty, violation of substantial forms…), on condition that it is called upon within the two months following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the Communities. Finally, for the Member States that have given their assent, the Court of Justice cannot rule prejudicially (if a judicial body in a Member States calls upon it during a trial) over the validity and interpretation of a framework decision.