A4-0082/98

Resolution on criminal proceedings relating to the protection of the Union's financial interests

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its resolution of 22 October 1997 on the Commission's 1996 Annual Report and its Work Programme for 1997/98 on the protection of the Community's financial interests and the fight against fraud ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 14.)),

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

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs (A4-0082/98),

A. emphasizing that the protection of the Union's financial interests requires not only an efficient investigative system, but also an effective and consistent criminal justice system operating throughout the Union's territory in concert with the competent Community authorities,

B. considering that it is necessary, therefore, to identify the main features of such a system, with particular reference to its institutional components and the procedures to be applied,

C. stressing that the following two points must be taken as read:

- the Union's capacity to conduct investigations relating to criminal offences, without which it would be impossible to secure protection by the authority responsible for bringing prosecutions (investigating authority);

- the independence of the Union body responsible for conducting investigations relating to criminal matters, failing which conflicts of interest might arise with other departments involved in the investigations,

D. whereas the problems involved in securing protection under the criminal law must be addressed both in the short term, by measures taken under the existing treaties, and, in the longer term, by more radical measures,

E. whereas fraud, corruption and money laundering affecting the Communities' financial interests are multinational by nature, as these offences are committed on, or affect, the territories of several Member States, as demonstrated by the recent cases relating to the tourism sector and the Community transit system; whereas this leads to conflicts of jurisdiction and problems of cooperation between the national judicial authorities, partly due to the absence of adequate provisions in international and Community law,

F. whereas the Convention on the Protection of the European Communities' Financial Interests is not capable of solving such problems of jurisdiction and cooperation, as it does not go beyond prescribing non-binding procedures for national authorities,

G. whereas it is necessary, therefore, for the Union to take subsidiary measures to fill the lacunae in the various national bodies of legislation,

H. whereas Article 280 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam, provides for the adoption of measures in accordance with the codecision procedure while stipulating that they shall not concern the application of criminal law or the administration of justice; whereas, however, such measures must be regarded as admissible if they provide a subsidiary means of filling lacunae in the existing law and criminal procedure in all the Member States,

I. whereas, consequently, the Union can intervene to take subsidiary action under the first pillar on the basis of Article 280 of the new EC Treaty,

J. whereas, if the judicial system is to operate effectively, it must be possible for information concerning suspected offences to be communicated easily to the investigating authority, but whereas in the context of the Union considerable obstacles stand in the way of officials - or UCLAF itself - referring such matters to the national investigating authorities,

K. noting that short-term action would not, however, entirely eliminate conflicts of jurisdiction and other serious problems involved in horizontal cooperation, and that, therefore, longer-term action is also necessary, along the lines set out in the 'Corpus Juris' presented by the Commission,

1. Considers that, in the short term, the only way of ensuring that the Union's finances are protected under the criminal law is by an efficient system of cooperation between national investigating authorities responsible for bringing criminal proceedings;

2. Considers that, in the absence of adequate international and Community law provisions, the Union could ensure effective cooperation between the national investigating authorities by enabling a specialized body to take subsidiary action and act as a clearing house by:

a) centralizing information, while ensuring that information which might be used in evidence meets the requirements of the legal system from which the request originates;

b) coordinating the activities of the investigating authorities and providing them with technical and legal assistance;

3. Considers that the body best suited to carrying out these tasks is UCLAF, in view of the sources of information at its disposal and its existing de facto links with the investigating authorities;

4. Calls, however, for Community regulations to govern the exercise of these tasks by laying down provisions with regard to:

a) setting up a centralized data base managed by UCLAF incorporating information on data with a bearing on criminal proceedings provided by the national authorities and by UCLAF;

b) equipping UCLAF with a statute conferring on it powers to coordinate and assist the national authorities and to communicate to them information and evidence in the requisite form;

5. Calls on the Commission to confer on UCLAF the task of helping to improve the training of national justice officials in the various fields of Community law affecting the protection of the Union's financial interests;

6. Calls on the Commission:

- to propose abolishing Article 19 of the Staff Regulations applicable to Community Officials, which prevents officials and UCLAF from communicating information concerning suspected offences to the investigating authority without the permission of the appointing authority,

- to provide a more correct interpretation of the provisions concerning officials' legal immunity so that they cover only prosecution and not cooperation with the investigating authorities;

7. Considers that, in the long term, the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor to coordinate a network of delegated national investigating authorities (as proposed in the 'Corpus Juris') would offer a more radical solution to the problems of judicial cooperation, the rationalisation of information and the speed of judicial proceedings, by establishing an embryonic European legal area in the domain of the protection of the Union's financial interests;

8. Stresses, in that connection, the need to ensure that economic, commercial and monetary integration are followed by a more integrated system for the protection of European citizens' rights;

9. Calls on the Commission, therefore, to continue its efforts to remove the technical and legal barriers to implementing this project in the medium to long term, and requests it to communicate to Parliament, by June 1998:

a) re the harmonization of criminal law, which must precede the harmonization of procedure: what measures it intends to propose for the harmonization of criminal law if unanimous ratification of the Convention on the Protection of Financial Interests has not occurred, as scheduled, by the end of the first half of 1998;

b) re the technical feasibility of the proposed establishment of a European Public Prosecutor: in what respects the system proposed in the 'Corpus Juris' is incompatible with the various national systems, and what remedial action could be taken to remove such incompatibilities;

10. Proposes, finally, to reflect further on two sets of problems in connection with the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor:

a) the means of ensuring the independence of that body and the nature of its relations with Union institutions;

b) the most appropriate legal instrument for the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor (international treaty; Community regulation; legal act under the third pillar);

11. Reminds the Commission that these guidelines should be taken into consideration in the consultation document it is to submit by June 1998 aimed at suggesting, among other things, how to cooperate more effectively with the judicial authorities;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and to the Council.