Strasbourg, 14/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament this week adopted several consultative reports on freedom, security and justice, and questioned the Council and Commission on several dossiers. The chairman of the EP Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Jean-Marie Cavada (ALDE), deplored the fact that the Parliament has still not reached a joint decision on unlawful immigration and criminal law. He said that, last year, the European Council had had to face up to an impressive number of counter-terrorism action plans that had not been implemented and was only able to nominate a representative to the secretary general, thus adding, where necessary, a new piece to a “sort of institutional Meccano that is even now not brilliant when it comes to transparency and not at all when it comes to effectiveness”. Also, he said, “agencies such as Europol and CEPOL have still to prove their worth and find it hard to integrate national security systems”.
French Socialist Martine Roure expressed concern about the protection of personal data in the context of Council discussions on data holding, and called on the Council to consult the Parliament again on the proposal for a framework decision relating to racism and xenophobia. British Liberal member Sarah Ludford was shocked that the president of the JHA Council, Luc Frieden, should say “we should not spend too much time worrying about the legal basis of the data-retention proposal” as, she felt, this was “absolutely symptomatic of the fact that the Council just does not get it!”.
With the adoption of the purely consultative report by Augustin Diaz de Mera Garcia Consuegra (EPP-Spain) on strengthening the fight against counterfeiting of the euro, the EP considers that the proposal to nominate Europol as a central office for this fight is “ambitious” but not “realistic”. He stresses that Europol should work in “close cooperation with the central offices of Member States”, saying that Europol does not have the necessary status for assuming the role of a central office because it has to use liaison officers rather than have a direct contact with Member States.
With the adoption of the report by Panayotis Demetrion (EPP-ED, Cyprus), the EP approves the transformation of the European Police College (CEPOL) into a European Union body. It voted 479 for and 43 against with 27 abstentions.
Following the report by Dutch Green member Kathalijne Buitenweg, MEPs call for strengthened procedural rights for the accused in criminal proceedings (523 for, 68 against and 13 abstentions).