Strasbourg, 14/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Greek Presidency hopes that it will be able to sign agreements negotiated by the European Union with the United States on extradition and legal co-operation at the EU/US Summit of 25 June, following the anticipated green light from the Justice and Home Affairs Council of 6 June, Justice Minister Philippos Petsalnikos told the European Parliament on Wednesday. Mr Petsalnikos added that these agreements would only enter into force once specific constitutional procedures to ratify them had been completed by Member States who required them (certain countries have already told us that they need to consult their national Parliaments, said the President of the Justice Council). These EU/US agreements add value to the bilateral agreements in place between Washington and various Member States, but do not replace them, continued the Greek Minister, who feels that agreements at European level contain guarantees over and above agreements in force between the United States and certain EU countries. Mr Petsalnikos stressed the advantages of these two agreements, and affirmed that Parliament would be kept informed on the subject, even though the Treaty did not necessitate this, but he did not even come close to convincing the MEPs, either on the form or the substance.
Although Jorge Salvador Hernandez-Mollar (EPP-ED, Spain), chairman of the Commission on Civil Liberties, that these agreements may contribute to the fight against organised crime and terrorism, he put forward a considerable problem of form: Parliament should be consulted, not just informed, and if the Council does not accept this, they may have to appeal to the Court of Justice. Spanish Socialist Anna Teron had misgivings about concluding a "privileged agreement" with a country whose legal traditions were so different from those of Europe, and raised the issue of the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo, as did several other MEPs, such as co-president of the Green/FTA group, Monica Frassoni. European citizens are being held by the Americans in Guantanamo, and we do not know what is happening to them, exclaimed the Italian-born Belgian MEP, adding: we could ask to send a delegation on site, and it would be "interesting, maybe even quite entertaining to see if the United States would allow it". Ms Frassoni is also concerned that the agreement may contain infringements of the EU Treaty, and contradictions with the statute of the International Criminal Court, set up last March: is it true, she asked, that the United States, "actively supported by the United Kingdom, has opposed all references to the Court in its agreements with the EU?" This was also an issue of some concern to Gianfrance Dell'Alba, who called upon the EU not to sign any agreement which goes against the principles of the Treaty of Rome, of the Criminal Court (the Italian radical regretted in passing that, so soon after the Accession Treaties were signed in Greece, cradle of democracy, the candidate country observers had been exposed to a debate "where we are forced into an outcry because we are not consulted on the basics"). Another Italian MEP, Elena Paciotti (Democratici de sinistra), stated the view that the agreements leave room for serious improvement (as relates to the concurrent extradition requests): they could become "exemplary" and serve as "standards for agreements with other third countries". Ms Paciotti also found it "paradoxical" that the EU is concluding an agreement with a third country on subjects for which there are no agreements between Member States. President of the Liberal Group, Graham Watson (former chairman of the commission on civil liberties) also found it "scandalous" that there was no "Parliamentary scrutiny on such fundamental choices". In France, he pointed out, the Council of State refused the Assemblée Nationale the right to ratify these agreements. The British Liberal Democrat also pointed out that the United States refused to sign international texts not only on the International Criminal Court, but also on cybercrime, for instance… Several MEPs expressed concerns about data protection (such as Johannes Blokland, Dutch member of Europe of Democracies and Diversities). Others insisted on more stringent provisions on extradition to the United States of people who may incur the death penalty: we must specify that there will be no extradition, not just say that there could be no extradition, insisted Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL, Greece), French Socialist Harlem Désir, and Dutch Socialist Joke Swiebel.
Philippos Petsalnikos replied: - Unfortunately, the Treaty makes no provision for the EP to be consulted on this matter, but once the agreements are signed, the Greek Presidency will inform the Parliament and hear its opinion; - the EU/US agreements add value to the bilaterals in terms of extradition in case of risk of capital punishment; - the agreements guarantee that each Member State can fulfil its obligations under the International Criminal Tribunal.