Strasbourg, 26/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament wants to improve the judicial protection offered by the Court of Justice on matters related to asylum, immigration, visas, free movement of persons and civil law. In giving their backing to the advisory report by József Szájer (EPP-ED, Hungary), MEPs sent a clear message to the Council of the EU that the Court should be given full competence in matters covered by Title IV of the Treaty. “If the Council accepts this solution, it would reinforce the judicial protection of citizens,” Mr Szájer said in a press release. For the moment, because of an exemption to the normal system, the powers of the Court of Justice in the context of Title IV are more restricted than in other areas of application of Community law. Thus, it is not possible for national justice courts or appeal courts to ask the Court of Justice to give preliminary rulings on Community law in the fields covered by Title IV. The complainant has to have exhausted all national avenues of action, right up to the court of final appeal, before the Community judge can be called on to interpret Community law in these fields. The expense of going through all the national courts may be a deterrent to some complainants, most of whom need a rapid judicial intervention. The report adopted by the EP makes reference to the Council's draft decision, proposed by the Commission in June 2006 (see EUROPE 9221). Under the terms of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Council ought to have taken a decision before amending exemptions after a five-year transition period (which expired on 1 May 2004). Such a decision requires a unanimous vote in Council. (bc)