Brussels, 19/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European arrest warrant is still only in force in eight Member States, but Commissioner Antonio Vitorino is "optimistic" about the fact that the seven other countries will catch up during this spring. France and Luxembourg have given their reassurance that they will be ready in March, Austria by 1 May at the latest, the Netherlands during the spring, and Greece after its legislative elections and before the Olympic Games in August. Germany has said it would be ready by summer, but gives no exact date. Italy spoke of the spring, but several European sources have expressed doubt about Italy's resolve to act on this. Italian Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, who was not present on Thursday, is still openly opposed to the European arrest warrant. "Italy could therefore find itself on its own", one observer notes.
The European arrest warrant should have been implemented throughout the European Union by 1 January this year. Spanish Secretary of State for Justice Rafael Català told several reporters that his country has already followed up 10 of the 19 European arrest warrants that it has received since the beginning of the year. He boasted of the rapid implementation time - 15 days on average - in comparison to one year or more for traditional extradition operated hitherto. Most cases concerned offences liable to less than 9 years imprisonment. He complained, however, that only one of the 72 persons whose extradition was requested by Spain via a European arrest warrant has been transferred to Spain. Irish Minister Michael McDowell has announced that his country was examining the first warrant that it has received so far.