A4-0107/98

Resolution on the implications of enlargement of the European Union for cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Amsterdam Treaty, which is pending ratification, to the future Title VI of the EU Treaty concerning provisions on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and future Title IV (hitherto Title IIIa) of the EC Treaty concerning visas, asylum, immigration and other policies concerning the free movement of persons,

- having regard to the Commission communication 'Agenda 2000 - a stronger and wider Union' (COM(97)2000 - C4-0371/97) concerning the eligibility of the individual states of Central and Eastern Europe for accession to the European Union,

- having regard to the conclusions of the meetings of the European Council in Strasbourg (8-9 December 1989), Copenhagen (21-22 June 1993), Essen (9-10 December 1994), Madrid (15-16 December 1995) and Luxembourg (12-13 December 1997),

- having regard to its resolution of 19 November 1997 on the Amsterdam Treaty (CONF 4007/97 - C4-0538/97) ((OJ C 371, 8.12.1997, p. 99.)),

- having regard to its resolutions of 4 December 1997 on the Commission communication 'Agenda 2000 - a stronger and wider Union' (COM(97)2000 - C4-0371/97 ((OJ C 388, 22.12.1997, pp. 17 and 31.)) and of 18 December 1997 on the conclusions of the European Council's meetings in Luxembourg on 21 November and 12-13 December 1997 and on the Luxembourg Presidency ((Minutes of that sitting, Part II, Item 8.)),

- having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs of 8 October 1997 in the report on the Commission communication on 'Agenda 2000 - a stronger and wider Union' (COM(97)2000 - C4-0371/97) ((Published in report A4-0368/97.)),

- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Institutional Affairs (A4-0107/98),

A. whereas, following their peaceful self-liberation in the wake of the collapse of the Communist systems, the nations of Central and Eastern Europe have made vigorous efforts to build democratic states governed by the rule of law,

B. whereas any country in Europe which has stable democratic institutions governed by the rule of law has a fundamental right to become part of the European Union at its own request,

C. aware of the tremendous effort required after decades of totalitarian regimes to develop the rule of law and to train new leaders, civil servants, judges, public prosecutors and police officers,

D. confirming the four criteria laid down at the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 which, in addition to adopting Community law and the acquis communautaire also lay down the conditions for the accession of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including 'stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities' and the ability to take on the obligations of membership relating to the acquis communautaire,

E. whereas the Union has a duty, at the stage of negotiations on enlargement, to promote full compliance by the applicant countries with the principles of a state governed by the rule of law,

F. whereas in many of the applicant countries significant efforts have still to be made in the fields of the fight against organized crime (particularly car theft, traffic in human beings, drug trafficking, money laundering and trade mark protection offences), the right of asylum, combating corruption, the development of effective customs authorities and the protection of privacy,

G. having regard to the cooperation in the area of the third pillar that has developed between the European Union and the applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe, which must be expanded considerably in the context of the pre-accession strategy and the structured dialogue in response to the challenges arising through the opening of the borders,

H. whereas, pursuant to the Amsterdam Treaty, the European Union and the European Community must put into effect an ambitious programme for creating a European asylum and immigration law together with police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters which considerably changes the acquis communautaire in the course of the accession procedure and presents the applicant countries with major new challenges,

I. having regard to the provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty (future Article 62 of the EC Treaty) stipulating that, within a period of five years after the Treaty enters into force, measures must be adopted on visas, asylum and immigration law and other policies concerning the free movement of persons,

J. having regard to future Article 29 (hitherto Article K.1) of the EU Treaty, according to which the Union's objective shall be 'to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice', in particular through closer cooperation between police, customs and other competent authorities, through the involvement of the European Police Office (Europol), closer cooperation between the judicial authorities and the approximation of Member States' rules on criminal matters,

K. whereas the period during which these policies are developed and the areas of asylum and immigration are brought within the Community sphere will roughly coincide with the period in which the enlargement negotiations enter their crucial phase or are, possibly, even on the verge of conclusion,

L. whereas customs authorities at external borders have a particular responsibility, over and above their normal duties, for preventing the import of prohibited goods (drugs, weapons, fissile material etc.),

1. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to use the accession talks with all ten applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the more intensive negotiations with the most eligible of them, and the Europe Conference, to prepare them for the common attainment of the objectives set out in Title VI of the EU Treaty and Title IV of the EC Treaty (following Amsterdam);

2. Calls for the European Union, in its negotiations with the applicant countries, to place the emphasis not only on police and judicial cooperation but also on promoting and reinforcing the rule of law, and in particular on accession to and full compliance with the international conventions on human rights, the right of asylum, the rights of the child, the permanent abolition of the death penalty, the abolition of all forms of discrimination, respect for minorities and minority languages, the protection of personal data and privacy;

3. Considers that, whatever preparatory work is undertaken by the applicant countries, enlargement may prevent the following Amsterdam Treaty provisions relating to justice and home affairs from functioning satisfactorily:

- adoption, within a period of five years after the entry into force of the Treaty, of measures relating to the crossing of external borders, the abolition of controls at internal borders, asylum and immigration, with a view to ensuring the free movement of persons (Article 61/73i);

- possible decision to make the Article 189b procedure applicable to the above areas (Article 67/73o);

- decision to establish closer cooperation (Article 40/K.12);

4. Considers it essential for the provisions relating to the field of justice and home affairs to be revised at the time of the institutional reform which must be carried out before the first enlargement;

5. Is concerned at the risk (aggravated by enlargement) that Article 35/K.7 will cause the EU's jurisdiction to become fragmented as regards the power of the Court of Justice to give preliminary rulings on matters falling within the scope of Title VI of the Treaty on European Union;

6. Welcomes the decision of the Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs at their meeting on 29 and 30 January 1998 to invite their colleagues from the applicant countries to conclude 'pre-membership pacts' on combating organized crime, and calls on the Council in its preparations for enlargement to give higher priority to the incorporation and implementation of the third pillar acquis;

7. Reminds the Commission of its obligation to attach particular importance in its annual reports on the development of the ten applicant countries to the implementation of fundamental freedoms, human rights, particularly the progress in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the rights of minorities, the consolidation of the rule of law, the elimination of discriminatory provisions and the wholesale adoption of the ever-expanding acquis communautaire;

8. Is resolved to open up EU programmes further for use by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and, in the longer term, by the countries neighbouring the applicant countries, in particular those for the training and education of civil servants and the exchange of police officers and members of the judiciary, and to increase their appropriations accordingly;

9. Calls on the Commission, the Court of Justice, Europol, the constitutional and supreme courts and the police forces of the Member States to involve themselves to a greater extent in further and advanced training of the judiciary and police forces in the applicant countries, on the basis of Community or bilateral programmes and notes that this is of great importance in the interests of early accession to the Schengen Convention, to which all the candidate countries aspire;

10. Proposes the establishment of a European Academy for Internal Security in the current border area between the European Union and the applicant countries to be responsible for training police forces and border control forces in the European Union and the applicant countries in order to prepare them for the use of Community law and the implementation of common and Community measures;

11. Calls for systematic cooperation between Europol and the competent police authorities in the applicant countries following the entry into force of the Europol Convention;

12. Calls for the measures provided in Title VI of the TEU (following Amsterdam) on police and judicial cooperation to be extended as comprehensively and promptly as possible to the applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in the following areas:

- operational cooperation between the responsible authorities - including the police, customs and prosecuting authorities - on the prevention of criminal acts, their detection and investigation,

- cooperation and joint initiatives on basic and further training (in the context of the PHARE programme and through Community programmes such as Robert Schuman, SHERLOCK and ODYSSEUS, etc.),

- exchange of liaison officers and secondments,

- use of items of equipment and forensic research,

- joint evaluation of particular investigative techniques for detection of serious forms of organized crime and the establishment of a network for research, documentation and statistics on cross-border crime,

- gradual approximation of criminal law and joint prosecution of cross-border criminal acts in the areas of organized crime, terrorism, trafficking in people, sexual abuse of children, trafficking in drugs, arms, radioactive material, works of art and valuable cultural items;

13. Requests the Council to submit a comprehensive report annually to Parliament on cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and the ten applicant countries, on the other;

14. Is resolved also to strengthen its cooperation with the applicant countries' parliaments in these areas through more intensive discussion of these issues in the joint parliamentary committees between the European Parliament and the applicant countries' parliaments and through systematic cooperation between its Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs and the corresponding parliamentary committees in Central and Eastern Europe;

15. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to implement the measures provided in the Amsterdam Treaty concerning external border controls, asylum and immigration and the measures concerning the prevention and combating of crime in a permanent dialogue with the ten applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe, to consider their proposals in detail and to keep the European Parliament and the joint parliamentary committees with the associated states regularly informed;

16. Calls on the Council and Commission to establish in enlargement negotiations that applicant countries adapt their visa policy towards third countries to Union policy before accession;

17. Calls on the Council and the Commission - with reference to its right of ratification for accessions - to ensure in enlargement negotiations that there are adequate transitional periods and arrangements for the new Member States in regard to checks at the new internal and external borders of the European Union and in regard to freedom of movement;

18. Also takes the view, however, that priority should be given to all measures - including those in the area of funding - which create the conditions for full freedom of movement so as to avoid long transitional periods which do not promote the integration process of Central and Eastern Europe or the enlarged European Union as a Community based on the rule of law;

19. Also proposes, in pursuit of a long-term strategy, that a European border control force should be introduced to control future external borders which draws on the national experience of border control forces for implementation at Community level as, in the long-term, the responsibility for controlling the EU's external borders cannot simply be left to the most northerly, easterly, southerly or westerly Member State but must be borne, both technically and financially, on a Community basis;

20. Calls on the Council and Commission, in the context of their forthcoming new partnerships with the applicant countries, to create the opportunity for the EU to provide financial support for the investments which the applicant countries will need to make in modernizing their customs infrastructure under the PHARE programme.

21. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, Europol and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of the ten applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe.