Brussels, 22/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The first Justice/Home Affairs Council under Spanish Presidency will be held on 28 February in Brussels under the leadership of Angel Acebes (Justice) and Mariano Rajoy (Home Affairs), with the participation of Commissioner Antonio Vitorino. The meeting will open with a public debate on the international cooperation of the EU in the fight against organised crime. It will be a matter of determining whether ministers have sufficient instruments for carrying their action out successfully and whether the joint strategies for fighting organised crime are the best instrument or not. Commissioner Michaele Schreyer will then present the Green Paper on the European Public Prosecutor (she will do the same at the Ecofin Council of 5 March), the aim of which is to protect the financial interests of the EC.
The Council, moreover, should note the existence of a political agreement on a global action plan against illegal immigration and the trade of human beings, discussed at their informal meeting in Saint-Jacques de Compostelle (see EUROPE of 13, 15 and 16 February). This plan is totally based on the Commission communication concerning common policy on illegal immigration matters (see EUROPE of 17 November 2001) and comes in the wake of the conclusions by the European Councils of Tampere and Laeken inviting the Council to develop an action plan for combating illegal immigration and the trade in human beings. Ambassador Javier Condé told the press that several small issues still pending will be raised during the meeting of Coreper that precedes the Council and that the Spanish Presidency wants an "organised, coordinated and effective" approach. We recall that the key points of the plan proposed by the Spanish Presidency are: visa policy, the exchange of analysis and information, measures to be taken when crossing borders, re-entry policy and repatriation, and sanctions.
As far as the rest is concerned, the agenda will cover: (1) A report from the Presidency on the European Police College (CEPOL). They will also endorse the Danish proposal to host CEPOL at the seat of the Danish police academy. (2) A report from Europol Director Jürgen Storbeck on police cooperation after introduction of the euro, including efforts to combat counterfeiting. (3) A debate on the Europol convention: ministers will examine the measures that may be implemented in the current state of the convention (for example, the setting in place of joint investigative teams), but the Spanish Presidency also expects they will state whether or not it is useful to foresee a simplified amendment (or adjustment) mechanism to avoid national ratification. (4) Examination of a framework decision on the implementation of orders freezing property or evidence in the context of judicial cooperation between Member States. Mr Condé noted that some issues are still outstanding (the most important being that of dual criminality), but the Spanish Presidency planned to present to ministers a "well put-together package" in order to obtain their endorsement for this framework decision. (5) EU/United States relations, mainly with regard to police and judicial cooperation. All EU Member States have concluded bilateral treaties with the United States regarding extradition, and eleven of them (Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) have also done so for judicial cooperation (negotiations with Germany will soon be concluded also). (6) Austria's proposal to set in place "air marshals" to ensure the protection of air passengers. Mr Condé pointed out that Austria is the only country in the EU to have such agents (also to be found in the United States and Israel). EUROPE will come back to the justice/police/penal points of this Council in greater detail.
At the end of the afternoon, the European ministers will discuss with their counterparts of candidate countries on the adoption of a joint statement against drugs, and on good practices for external border management and the strengthening of the judiciary and administrative capacities of these countries.