Brussels, 12/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers will be meeting up on Wednesday evening at Santiago de Compostela in Spain for their informal Council. The fight against illegal immigration and the role of Europol will figure amongst the main subjects in the Spanish Presidency's first meetings focusing on Justice and Home Affairs. Whilst the war on terrorism is the main priority of the Spanish Presidency, only one aspect of this issue will feature on the agenda, that of co-operation with the US. The meetings will begin with a dinner on Wednesday and finish Friday lunch-time. The Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council will take place on 28 February
Plan for tackling illegal immigration: Ministers will be debating a global plan in the struggle against illegal immigration and the trafficking of human being in the EU. This was proposed by the Presidency following the request made at the Laeken Summit, based on the Commission Communication on a joint policy on illegal immigration, presented by Antonio Vitorino (see EUROPE 17 November page 8). Six priority areas are mentioned for intervention: policy on visas, information exchange infrastructure, border control management, police co-operation, legislation on foreigners and criminal law, policy on leave to return and readmission. Leonello Gabrici, spokesman for Commissioner Vitorino's Office explained that at Santiago de Compostela, Ministers would be focusing discussions on the adoption of a timetable that will allow one or more of these priority areas to be pushed forward. Mr Gabrici also said that that the Spanish Presidency considers the following areas as priorities: 1) Visa policy and defining the common identification visa system. The Presidency has asked for the system to take into account information on visas currently in force as well as on visas that have been requested or refused; 2) Policies for foreign repatriation: the Presidency will also be discussing whether it is necessary to move towards common principles and standards for deportation and detention, whilst supporting administrative co-operation between the national services in charge of repatriation policy 3) Priorities regarding the signing of readmission agreements and which countries will be seen as priorities in opening negotiations on these agreements. Preliminary border controls, the training of border guards, increased police co-operation also figure among the priorities.
Europol: Diplomatic sources have suggested that in line with its objective of strengthening Europol, the Spanish Presidency will be putting a whole range of questions and proposals to EU Member States. The informal Council will initially examine the joint proposal presented by Spain and Belgium. This proposal calls for European Police Bureau participation in future joint investigations, as well as the right of Europol to request Member States to launch and co-ordinate investigations. These two proposals are at the top of the list of the eight priorities for strengthening Europol, which were adopted in September by the Belgian Presidency (see EUROPE 29 September). The September Council was the occasion at which Member States set about laying down the priorities for Europol's work and broadening its remit. The Spanish Presidency will be offering this issue up for discussion at Santiago de Compostela, as well as putting forward priorities such as the war on terrorism, euro counterfeiting, illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Member States will also be discussing the issue of how they collaborate with each other, which has until recently been lacklustre and half-hearted. A marked improvement in co-operation with Europol has, however, been witnessed since the attacks on 11 September. Europol co-operation and the Police Chief Task-force (this issue could also figure on the agenda at this meeting), as well as the question of Europol's access to the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the Customs Information System (CIS) will also be discussed.
Harmonisation of sentencing procedures: Following a debate on this issue in December, Justice and Home Affairs Ministers will again be tackling the question of what method to adopt for harmonising sentencing procedures. This is not just a practical issue but also one of principle, and regularly poses problems. Several countries, essentially Austria, Germany and Denmark are opposed to the traditional minimum/maximum method of harmonisation. This harmonisation is determined by a commonly agreed minimum sentence; Member States thereafter can establish their own sentences for the most serious crimes. This method means in effect that Member States have decided that terrorist ringleaders could receive a minimum sentence of 15 years in any European Union prison. In December (see EUROPE 16 November and 8 December) Ministers agreed to continue discussion on changing the procedures. This would mean dropping the system based on the number of years and adopting a range: level 1 (sufficiently serious to warrant extradition); level 2 (from 1-5 years); level 3 (5-10 years), level 4 (more than 10 years. The Council is expected to come up with new proposals to push discussions forwards.
Family law: The Spanish Presidency is hoping to make progress in the difficult area of parental responsibility. This sensitive issue, particularly in France and Germany, is one of the priorities laid down at the Laeken Summit in the area of judicial co-operation. Some Member States want to stick with Brussels Regulation Two, whereby the rules (courts and relevant laws) governing divorce and separation, as well as the Hague International Convention of 1996 are laid down (very few countries have in fact ratified this regulation). Other countries wish to go further. Two proposals are on the table. The proposal submitted by France seeks to clarify the rules on visiting rights: it wants a decision on visiting rights in cases of divorce to become immediately enforceable in all Member States (abandoning the role of the exequator). The other Proposal for a Regulation comes from the Commission which wants the rules on competence, recognition and execution of decisions made more clear, as well as extending the scope of these rules to the children of non-married couples (see EUROPE 5 December).
EU-US Co-operation: Spain announced that it would be proposing a legal co-operation agreement (something that has been expected by Member States since 20 September). It will be discussing the mandate for negotiations with its counterparts. No initiative has yet been taken concerning the issue of adopting a common instrument for implementing the Decision of 27 December on the freezing of terrorist group's assets in Europe (see EUROPE 4 January). The proposal announced by the Presidency is not ready yet. The definitive adoption of the framework proposals on the European arrest warrant for terrorists in Europe is now just a question of formality, given that the European Parliament has given its opinion on the matter.