For the first time, three EU member states – Germany, Portugal and Slovenia – have agreed on a joint work programme for their EU presidencies over the next 18 months. This trio of presidencies started on 1 January with Germany’s EU Presidency, to be followed by Portugal on 1 July and Slovenia on 1 January, 2008.
The ministers responsible for Justice and Home Affairs of these member states have already discussed their work programme at a meeting that was also attended by the vice-president of the European Commission, Franco Frattini. Having a joint work programme will ensure policy continuity from one presidency to another.
The key objectives of the trio presidency for the next 18 months are quite important for Malta. One important aim of this first trio presidency is to strengthen the European border protection agency FRONTEX, in order to enhance protection of the external borders and fight the incoming illegal immigration.
The presidency is aiming to tackle the problem at its roots by engaging in a constructive dialogue with the immigrants’ countries of origin, as well with the countries from where they depart. In this way the presidency will try to find a way to improve local living conditions in these countries, manage legal immigration and take rigorous action at European level against illegal immigration.
Keeping this in mind, a EUROMED ministerial conference on migration will be held in Portugal in November this year. The conference will bring together EU member states and the other Mediterranean states and is being considered as a means of intensifying dialogue with third countries.
Ensuring access to the Schengen Information System is also on the agenda of this first EU trio presidency, technically possible by late 2007. If all conditions are fulfilled, checks at the EU’s internal borders will end as from 31 December 2007.
During the next 18 months, the presidency wants to enhance the fight against terrorism and cross-border crime in the EU by improving police cooperation, including the strengthening of the European police office Europol to continue fighting all forms of cross-border crime, and become more effective in the fight against terrorism.
The Justice and Home Affairs work programme also aims to strengthen judicial cooperation in criminal matters and enhance the member states’ confidence in each other’s justice system. The presidency will try to define certain minimum rights in criminal proceedings, which will be guaranteed to people in investigative and court proceedings in all member states. This entails a framework decision which sets minimum guarantees determining when suspects must be provided with an interpreter or defence counsel and how to ensure that suspects are informed of their rights. As European borders become more permeable, cross-border cooperation between judicial authorities must become closer, particularly in law enforcement. The presidency is aiming for a framework decision to create the legal basis for the sharing of register information between member states electronically, rather than in paper form. This should create a network of national registers and thus reduce informational deficits in law enforcement and in evaluating criminal offenders.
The presidency also plans to resume negotiations over the Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia to try to achieve a minimum level of harmonisation in the criminal codes of member states. This would criminalise the dissemination of racist and xenophobic statements that could incite violence and hatred towards other people, as well as the denial or trivialisation of genocide with racist or xenophobic motives.
Considering the multicultural dimension of the EU, the presidency intends to focus on integration and intercultural dialogue, particularly keeping in mind the 15 million Muslims living in Europe. In this regard, a European conference on integration is planned for May 2007.
Mr Vella is Consultation Coordinator at Forum Malta fl-Ewropa
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More information is available from Forum Malta fl-Ewropa on 2590 9101 or by email from [email protected]