Cannes, 07/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - According to the French presidency of the Union, on Monday 7 July, the EU27 agreed to develop in-the-field cooperation between their different police forces by setting up “European Commissariats” or “Erasmus” schemes for police officers. At the end of an informal internal affairs ministerial meeting, the French minister of the interior, Michèle Alliot-Marie declared, “we agreed on developing extremely concrete measures to help respond to citizens' expectations”. The French presidency is hoping that its projects will be agreed on next autumn. The minister added that, “citizens do not have a positive vision of European construction” and explained that they had to, “show that the European Union brings them something in their daily lives”. She stressed that the fight against terrorism, organised crime and anti-social behaviour on a daily basis are at the heart of these concerns.
Although police and legal cooperation is still subject to decisions at the Council being made at unanimity, the Irish no-vote on the Lisbon treaty (which wanted voting to be done at qualified majority) seriously put the brakes on the prospects for harmonisation in a sector considered as one of the most important by European citizens. The minister affirmed that, “the fact that the Lisbon treaty has not been ratified does not prevent us from moving forward in domain that is important for Europe and its citizens”.
While awaiting a solution to the institutional impasse, several concrete initiatives were proposed to attempt to provide a boost to police cooperation (further information EUROPE 9697). In the context of security, Alliot-Marie stressed that her country intended to develop practical police cooperation by drawing on the “principle of convergence”, which consists in reinforcing information sharing between police forces, increasing joint training and making equipment interoperable. To illustrate her idea, the minister unveiled the intention to propose the setting up of “European police commissariats”, which would accommodate foreign police officers helping tourists during sports events or at very popular venues. Alliot-Marie said that, “tourists who are assaulted or robbed will therefore be able to go to police officers who speak their language”
The EU27 also agreed on the “Erasmus police” principle, based on the one for European students who can perfect their training in another EU country. Police officers will in this way be able to go for training or courses in other countries for longer periods. Regional police cooperation, for example on drug, weapons or people trafficking, in the Mediterranean, will also be promoted, based on the joint force set up in 2007 for Europe's Atlantic coast. This would consist in setting up an anti-drug investigation and coordination centre (CECLAD), which France wants to set up in Toulon, despite Italian misgivings. Ms Alliot-Marie also submitted her project for the fight against cyber-crime. This consists in creating a European platform for identifying illicit content on the internet. The Commission is said to be prepared to fund the project (EUROPE 9680).
It should be pointed out that with this new approach, which tends to emphasise operational cooperation, while legislative harmonisation, usually a priority, takes second place. Following the meeting, one diplomat indicated that, “member states have found in favour of the Czech and British theses that have for a long time put more emphasis on operational police cooperation to the detriment of greater harmonisation”. The Luxembourg minister for justice, Luc Frieden, however, pointed out that it was “essential” to have a more harmonised legal framework in the Union, in which the police can operate and said, “we need concrete things but which are still located in the general framework”. He noted the example of bad interoperability of DNA exchange, due to the different legal systems. In some countries, like Germany and Austria, data exchange depends on the police forces, while in Luxembourg it depended on the legal authorities. The minister informed EUROPE that, “the principle of convergence consists in bringing people closer, as well as resoruces and legal officials”. He also said that they should not, “only work on ad hoc projects but should also define how European police action can be pursued at a political level”. Frieden believes that this police action should have a regional character, “a sort of reinforced cooperation” which, when its usefulness is demonstrated, attracts other countries.
Ministers of the interior also agreed on identifying shortcomings, in October, in member states' civil protection resources, in order to collectively tackle natural disasters more efficiently. After this evaluation, member states will make a commitment to overcoming these shortcomings. Resources will now be shared but only on a voluntary basis. (B.C./trans. r.h.)