Brussels, 25/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - EU 15 Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs are gathering on 27 and 28 February for a Council whose starting point will be the go-ahead given to judicial cooperation and extradition agreements with the United States, if the member states manage to resolve their remaining differences. Thursday will be dedicated to issues of asylum and immigration (see EUROPE of 22 January, p.16), that of Friday to judicial cooperation (EUROPE of 24 January, p.16). Thursday afternoon, the ministers will hold a public debate on the fight against organised crime in the western Balkans. The agenda is much tighter than during the previous quarters. The Permanent Representatives for the member states must still discuss these various points on Wednesday.
Only eight months after the launch of negotiations, the EU 15 could approve, this weekend the content of the two agreements for judicial cooperation and extradition with the United States, as prepared by the Danish Presidency and finalised by the Greek Presidency. This initial informal approval should be confirmed during the May Council for the Presidency to be authorised to sign the agreement. The formal conclusion will then take time. On such a sensitive issue, it is necessary to verify if, on Friday, the ministers are prepared to accept that all their demands are not met or if they will insist on the fact that the agreement brings, with regards to the death penalty, significant guarantees, firmer than the 14 of the 15 bilateral extradition treaties. Diplomats also add that these agreements will not replace the bilateral agreements already in place, but that they will complete them, which means that the guarantees relating to human rights, in particular, cannot be watered down by these agreements concluded at the European level. The Presidency is placing a certain degree of pressure on the member states by underlining that if the EU 15 do not approve these texts as they are, but call for changes, this could bring the United States to renounce imposing, in the future agreement, the extradition of European nationals as well as the attenuation of exceptions for political crimes. The Americans where already prepared to accept the texts as they where, and only the Europeans called for changes during the four negotiating sessions that took place since the beginning of the year.
One of the main problems broached during the recent talks between the Europeans is that of competing extradition requests, namely between the United States and the international crimes tribunal (the United States refuses for the agreement to cover this issue, and most of the member states accept that it cannot be resolved by this agreement: thus the draft specifies that the agreement covers relations between the states and does not prejudge relations with international organisations) or between the United States and a member state (this point is absolutely crucial for Washington, but poses a problem for several member states). Other reservations cover special courts as well as data protection.
The talks will begin on Thursday morning with an exchange of views over the Directive concerning minimum rules for the definition and the status of refugees and persons enjoying other forms of international protection. The Presidency hopes to push forward these talks on the rights of refugees and persons enjoying other forms of granted protection, but does not expect to finalise a political agreement on this Directive during the Council. The main point of contention concerns persons that do not have refugee status according to the Geneva Convention of 1951, but enjoy international protection from other agreements, for example that on torture. Germany and Austria feel that these persons should not enjoy the same rights as refugees, in particular with regards to access to the labour market and right to remain as a family unit. Finland and Sweden, on the other hand, called for similar rights. With regards to access to the labour market, the member states could work on a formulation for a compromise that leaves each state, or region, to decide its own criteria. According to a decision by the European Council in Seville in June 2002, the EU 15 must adopt this Directive before June. The Directive will align itself with the two texts approved in recent weeks on the responsibility for investigating asylum requests and the conditions for hosting these claimants. What remains is the proposal on the procedures that should be adopted before the end of the year, according to the Seville conclusions.
Family reunification. The Presidency hopes that the EU 15 will reach an agreement over this text. Among the last points under discussion is the authorisation that will be given to the member states to limit the right of parents to be joined by their children for children aged less than fourteen years.
On the other hand, the draft Directive relating to the status of long-term residents was finally withdrawn from the agenda, as the dossier 'was not ripe', indicated a diplomat.
Immigration. The Presidency places great importance on the debate that will be held by ministers concerning the protection of borders and the sharing of costs in terms of immigration and return policies. It should question the member states over a possible increase in the Community budget dedicated to these policies, as well as over the spending that could be undertaken from this budget. With regards to expulsions, the member states will debate the use of the European fund for refugees and the creation of a specific financial instrument. The ministers should adopt initial conclusions on the integration of the immigration issue into relations with third countries, as a first step towards the preparation of the Thessalonica Summit. While awaiting the results of studies that the European Commission should present on the sharing of costs, the debate starts on the basis of two reports from the Commission one on the link between immigration, development and external policy (see EUROPE of 14 December, p. 9) and the other on a European repatriation policy for illegal immigrants (EUROPE of 29 November, p.6).
The Council could achieve progress on the three proposals for framework decisions in the field of judicial and police cooperation, namely:
- the fight against racism and xenophobia;
- the recognition of pecuniary sanctions (the talks are now based on the ending of the dual criminality rule for all the crimes that are already present on the list of the European arrest warrant coupled with traffic offences and two or three other infringements);
- the fight against attacks targeting computer systems, which will be broached for the first time at Council level