Brussels, 26/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - The number of proposals before the Council in the field of judicial cooperation, to which twelve Danish initiatives were added last month, is expected to rise even further with the addition of several proposals from the European Commission. Based on its quarterly work programme drawn up in accordance with the Tampere conclusions, the Commission is expected to approve: (1) in September: - a communication on EU policy to combat corruption; - a communication on justice and home affairs within the context of the European Convention; (2) October: - a proposal for a framework decision on mutual recognition of orders for securing evidence (to complement the arrest warrant and orders freezing assets and evidence); - a Green Paper on revision of the Rome I Convention on the law applicable to contractual relations and its transformation into a regulation; - a communication on the determination of criteria for jurisdiction in criminal matters; - a report on the actions taken to combat the financing of terrorism; - a proposal for a framework decision on safeguards for the transfer of personal data within the framework of judicial and police cooperation in criminal matters (to make possible an agreement with the United States); - a communication on the approximation of penalties under criminal law (the ongoing debate on the method of harmonisation; a provisional solution has been found, see EUROPE of 27 April); - a communication on the mid-term assessment of the EU action plan 2000-2004 to combat drugs. The twelve new proposals by the Danish Presidency were presented in July: for more information, see, on the Presidency's programme, EUROPE of 11 July, p. 12 and 5 July, p. 7; Europol (6 July, p.8), the storing of internet data (26 July, p.9), e-mail communication (idem), corruption in the private sector (26 July, p.10), disqualification (idem), confiscation of the proceeds from crime (25 July, p.13), police intervention in the review of applications for residence permits (EUROPE of 31 July, p.10), the use of liaison officers (29/30 July, p.8).
The Fifteen will try to approve in the coming months several proposals for framework decisions on which agreement has posed a problem: (1) definition and penalties for child pornography: discussion of the text submitted by the Commission in January 2001 is still blocked. The main reservation comes from Italy, which still has to explain its position to its partners and submit proposals. Given the stalemate, the JHA Council in June did not even address the subject (see EUROPE of 11 June and 16 May); (2) definition and penalties for drug trafficking: the experts believe there will be agreement shortly. The only difference of views remaining to be settled concerns the penalty for possession of small quantities of drugs: the Netherlands want the Member States to be free to apply less severe penalties than those contained in the text; 3) combating racism and xenophobia: debate particularly concerns sanctions. The Council also has to come to agreement on the European Commission's new proposal for a regulation on parental responsibility and on the signature, on these same issues, of The Hague Convention of 1996 (see EUROPE of 4 May, p.11 and 13 February). Other texts before the Council include: - mutual recognition of pecuniary penalties (the initial debates have not been easy, especially because this involves recognising a final judgment); - the European enforcement order for non-contested debts (EUROPE of 20 April, p.9); - judicial assistance (EUROPE of 29 January); - the system for assessing the fight against terrorism proposed by Spain, which will be debated in further detail by the experts in September; - the adoption of a brief for the United Nations Convention on Corruption (agreement is needed in Coreper and then in the Council in September, since the UN session will be held in late September); - cooperation with Norway and Iceland (the Fifteen are considering extending the European arrest warrant to these non-EU countries).
Proposed agendas for the informal Council in September and the Council in October
The first meeting of the fifteen Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs under the Danish Presidency will be the informal Council on 13 and 14 September in Copenhagen. In the area of judicial and police cooperation, the following items are expected to be on the agenda: negotiation of the judicial cooperation agreement with the United States (EUROPE of 2 August, p.2), the fight against drug trafficking and Schengen cooperation, particularly in relation to the applicant countries. The first formal Council will be held on 14 and 15 October. The draft agenda includes, for police and judicial cooperation, proposals on: corruption in the private sector, the confiscation of the proceeds from crime, negotiation of the agreement with the United States, the framework decision on mutual recognition of pecuniary penalties, creation of the European judicial network, the directive on judicial assistance, the negotiating brief for the Lugano II Convention, parental responsibility and the signature of The Hague Convention of 1996 on parental responsibility. Several proposals could be approved without debate: the decision on cooperation between Member States' police and judicial authorities to fight terrorism (there is already political agreement on the Spanish proposal to establish contact points: EUROPE of 10/11 June, p.10 and 14 June, p.10), an agreement on the exchange of strategic information between Europol and Russia, authorisation for the Director of Europol to negotiate cooperation agreements with Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus. The agenda will likely change before the date of the Council, in terms of ongoing developments on the issues. The JHA Council will meet thereafter on 28 and 29 November and on 20 December.