Brussels, 02/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - While all Member States, especially Italy, are lagging behind when it comes to applying post 11 September decisions, the new Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, Franco Frattini, said on Thursday that the European Commission would use "every means available to it" to ensure Member States make up time lost. Nonetheless, the European Commission does not have the power to launch infringement proceedings in this field. As far as Italy, a country which has only applied two of the twelve texts in question, is concerned, the former Foreign Minister under Silvio Berlusconi pointed out during a press conference that he had requested speedy approval of these texts at the Italian Parliament, and undertook to monitor the situation closely. Franco Frattini stressed that the Commission would not only verify whether Member States implement the texts but also how they implement them, so that the texts are "not weakened or emptied of their substance".
By the end of the year, in addition to the Green Paper on Illegal Immigration (EUROPE of 1 December), the only proposal announced concerns the fight against organised crime. Not until June 2005 will the 2005-2010 action plan for the whole of justice and home affairs policy be adopted, Mr Frattini said. The Commissioner hopes to launch public/private dialogue on security. Also, the "Commission is examining ways to combat radicalisation and extremism".
During his first speech in Council on Thursday, Franco Frattini placed emphasis on the fight against illegal immigration, the integration of immigrants, the fight against terrorism and the fact that it is important for the justice and home affairs sector to benefit from adequate budgetary allocations in the next financial perspectives (2007-2013). On the subject of judiciary cooperation, he stressed that the EU needed a common base, but specified that his aim is not to attain a single criminal code for all.