Brussels, 03/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - It is quite likely that the Fifteen will finally give the go-ahead on Friday to the signing of extradition and legal cooperation agreements between the European Union and the USA. After a meeting with the Presidency and the USA, France, which was blocking the agreement, appears to be relatively satisfied with the modifications that have been obtained. They still need to be approved by the other Member States and all national parliamentary consultation procedures need to be entirely finished. The agreements could therefore be signed at the EU-US summit on 25 June in Washington.
France was particularly loathe to accept the US demand for extradition and a demand formulated through a European mandate for arrest be put on the same level. A declaration and an addition to Article 10 on concurrent demands is expected to mark the intention of the EU to request a revision of the agreement if the Fifteen decided to systematically grant the European mandate for arrest priority over all other extradition demands from a third country - which is not the case for the instant. This declaration also aims to explain how Article 10 does not constitute a precedent for other agreements of the same kind with other third countries. there is also an addition to the Article on Fundamental Rights - which mentions respect for the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court but does not mention any explicit reference to Article 6 of the treaty. Discounting the contentious points, the Fifteen already agreed on the content in the papers (EUROPE 10 may p 11 and 13 May p 13). We will return to other subjects on the agenda of the justice issue of the JHA Council tomorrow.