Brussels, 04/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - Little progress was made in the various sectors of justice and home affairs in 2007, largely as a result of delays in those areas which fall within the province of intergovernmental cooperation (police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters), the European Commission said in a report published on Wednesday 2 July. The third annual report (or scoreboard) on the implementation of the Hague Programme (2005-2009) assesses progress made in policies in the area of justice, freedom and security (JLS). The main aim of the 2007 scoreboard was to assess progress in carrying out the measures provided for in the Hague action plan for 2007. The rate of realisation was lower in 2007 than in previous years. In 2006, 53% of measures for the period were realised, but, for 2007, the figure was 38%. The report states that significant progress was recorded in “First Pillar” (Community) areas, such as migration and border policies, combating terrorism and cooperation in civil justice. However, the realisation rate was not high enough in those areas which come under the “Third Pillar” (inter-governmental), such as sharing information between law enforcement and judicial authorities, preventing and combating organised crime, management of crises within the EU, police and customs cooperation, and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. “The findings also support the need to improve decision-making in the areas covered by Title VI of the EU Treaty (police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters),” said the Commission in a press release. The report also noted that a number of member states fail to comply with the deadline to transpose legal instruments into national legislation. This particularly concerns acts adopted in the area of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, where the Commission does not have the power to launch infringement procedures. The Commission will launch a public consultation exercise on future priorities for development of the area of JLS before the end of the year. In 2009, it intends to present a communication on the future of JLS policies, which will form the basis for the discussion and preparation of the new multi-annual programme in the JLS area for the period 2010-2014. (B.C./transl.rt)