Strasbourg, 02/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - Last week, at its plenary in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted three reports on justice and home affairs. Approving the report by Antonia Di Pietro (ELDE, Italy) it lent its support to the proposal to facilitate exchanges of information from police records, on which the Council reached political agreement and which will be adopted once the national parliamentary reservations have been lifted (EUROPE of 26 February, p.8). The MEPs, whose opinion is not binding, would like the deadline for extracts to be sent to be shortened and stress data protection.
The report by Portugal's Antonio Costa (PES) on better quality criminal justice in the European Union pleads for the adoption of a quality charter for criminal justice in Europe, to be used as a reference in all Member States. The report calls for “indispensable minimum harmonisation” for minimum prisoner rights, the possibility of serving their sentence in their Member State of residence or for the administration and assessment of proof. The MEPs also call for a “permanent mutual quality assessment mechanism” to be set up in the Member States.
Lastly, the EP approves the proposal by the European Commission for the Council to ratify the convention by the International Labour Organisation on identity cards for sailors.