Brussels, 06/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Justice and Home Affairs Council has extended police surveillance into other Member States when trailing individuals from their own territory. Until now this was only possible if the person was “presumed to have participated in a punishable act giving rise to extradition”. It will now allow” necessary elements to be brought to legal investigations” when a person is involved, “with which there are serious reasons to believe that it could lead to their identification or the localisation of the said person”. This new provision will enter into force once the decision is published in the Official Journal. Different conditions such as the need to request authorisation of the country concerned or the need to warn them, remains in force.
The Council has also extended the list of the acts covered in this provision by adding serious fraud, illegal immigration networks, money laundering, trafficking nuclear or radioactive substances, participation in criminal organisations when in the common sense of 98/733/JHA of the Council of 21 December 1998 an terrorist acts. The word “rape” is replaced with “infraction of a serious sexual nature” and “forgery” by “counterfeiting and falsification of means of payment”. Already on the list: murder, rape, arson, forgery, theft and conspiracy to receive, extortion, kidnapping and hostage taking, traffic of human beings, illegal trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances, infringements against the legal provisions regarding weapons and explosives, destruction by explosives, illegal transporting of toxic and hazardous waste.
Due to the particular provisions linking them to the Schengen Agreement, this decision applies to the United Kingdom but not to Ireland or Gibraltar. It applies to Iceland and Norway but not to Schengen associated agreements.
The amended draft is the Convention of the Application of the Schengen Agreement (Official Journal L239 of 22/09200 p 19). Belgium, Spain and France proposed this amendment in June 2002