Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, when we Members think of the Council of the European Union we are by no means always filled with a deep sense of happiness. It is not only the lack of good will; difficulties with the subject matter and different priorities also sometimes make working with the Council rather a trial. All the more reason then for me to be glad today as rapporteur that everything has gone smoothly with Eurojust. We have acted in concert and made good progress in the fight against serious cross-border crime. I should like to express my thanks for this, in a personal capacity and on behalf of Parliament, but especially on behalf of the people who live in the European Union. If Eurojust starts work at the beginning of 2002 and supersedes the provisional unit to combat serious forms of organised cross-border crime, the public will have reason to be glad. This is because Europe will then have moved considerably closer to being an area of freedom, security and justice. The public also expect this of us, and I am convinced that they even have a right to it. That is why I should like to thank warmly colleagues in the committee who have helped to improve the Council initiative and make it more tangible. By so doing we want to create a judicial coordination unit which is as effective as possible and which works closely with the institutional partners, such as Europol, and the European Judicial Network. I would ask Parliament to vote in favour of the amendments and additions to the Council proposal which are necessary to achieve this. Allow me to give just a few examples from the Eurojust proposal where the hand of the European Parliament is visible. Firstly, the extended and clear-cut list of Eurojust's areas of competence is very important. It incorporates the essential features of my ideal of a European public prosecutor and goes far beyond the minimal concept occasionally put forward, which is based on the belief that it is quite sufficient to protect the financial interests of the European Union. From the public's point of view if we had adopted this minimal concept we would definitely not have gone far enough. We need to vigorously tackle all forms of crime which the people of Europe, not without reason, fear today. The fight must target cross-border fraud, corruption and crimes against the financial interests of the European Community just as much as computer crime. Money launderers must feel just as vulnerable as polluters. Of course Eurojust's general responsibilities must also include all of the other forms of crime and offences in respect of which Europol, as a police authority, is competent to act, including such dreadful crimes as trafficking in human beings or terrorist acts, which we have to read about every day in the newspaper. Secondly, we have added a recital on data protection. In my view this was also absolutely essential because the rule of law does not cease to apply in the fight against international and organised crime. This means that Eurojust must also submit to strict rules on data protection when pursuing all of its investigative activities. When collecting, processing and using personal data the international rules of the Council of Europe and the individual rules of the Member States apply equally in each case. Rules on data protection must also be observed unreservedly when personal data are exchanged. Thirdly, we want to ensure that Eurojust is able to work as flexibly as it possibly can. This is a fundamental prerequisite for success. Direct and uncomplicated contact between those involved is particularly important. That is why we have deleted the national correspondents from the proposal and removed anything which might foster the growth of bureaucratic hurdles. In conclusion, allow me to say that the Belgian government has announced that it wishes to complete the preparations for the definitive Eurojust unit during its presidency. With this undertaking and the agreement of Parliament on my report – which I earnestly request – Europe is striking a powerful blow against international crime. (Applause)

Political group: PSE