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EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT |
2009 - 2014 |
Session document
<Date>{06/10/2009}16.11.2009</Date> <NoDocSe>B7‑0000/2009</NoDocSe>
<TitreType>MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION</TitreType>
<TitreSuite>further to Question for
Oral Answer B7‑0000/2009</TitreSuite>
<TitreRecueil>pursuant to Rule
115(5) of the Rules of Procedure</TitreRecueil>
<Titre>on the Communication from
the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – An area of
freedom, security and justice serving the citizen – Stockholm programme</Titre>
<RepeatBlock-By><Depute>Luigi Berlinguer</Depute>
<Commission>{JURI}on behalf of the Committee on Legal Affairs</Commission>
<Depute>Juan
Fernando Lpez Aguilar</Depute>
<Commission>{LIBE}on behalf of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home
Affairs</Commission>
<Depute>Carlo
Casini</Depute>
<Commission>{AFCO}on behalf of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs</Commission>
</RepeatBlock-By>
B7‑0000/2009
European Parliament resolution on the
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council
– An area of freedom, security and justice serving the citizen –
Stockholm programme
The European Parliament,
– having
regard to the Treaty of Lisbon, in particular its provisions dealing with the
area of freedom, security and justice (Ôthe AFSJŐ) and its new legal framework
for the protection of fundamental rights and the strengthening of Union
citizenship, Articles 2, 6 and 7 of the Treaty on European Union as modified by
the Treaty of Lisbon, Protocol No 8 to the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union as inserted by the Treaty of Lisbon, relating to the accession
of the Union to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms (Ôthe ECHRŐ), and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the
European Union (Ôthe CharterŐ), which has the same legal value as the Treaties,
– having regard to the communication from the
Commission of 10 June 2009 entitled ÔAn area of freedom, security and justice
serving the citizenŐ (COM (2009)0262), which outlines its priorities in the
AFSJ for 2010-2014, together with its evaluation of the Hague Programme and
Action Plan (COM(2009)0263) and the associated implementation scoreboard
(SEC(2009)0765), as well as to the contributions made by national parliaments,
civil society and EU agencies and bodies,
– having regard to the Council Presidency's draft
document of 16 October 2009 entitled 'The Stockholm Programme – An open
and secure Europe serving the citizen' (14449/09),
– having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of
Procedure,
– having regard to the joint deliberations of the Committee
on Legal Affairs, on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and Committee on
Constitutional Affairs pursuant to Rule 51,
A. whereas
ever since the entry into force of the Amsterdam
Treaty, the AFSJ has been an essential objective of the European Union; whereas,
it is essential to return to the original spirit of the Tampere Programme,
which embraced aspects of criminal and civil law, focusing on the rule of law,
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,
B. whereas, in many
areas of justice and home affairs policy, national solutions are no longer
adequate and there is thus a need to develop European responses to the
international challenges of migration, security and technology, including
information and communications technology,
C. whereas the Treaty of Lisbon, recently approved either through parliamentary vote or a referendum procedure, will reshape the legal bases, objectives, instruments and decision-making methods of AFSJ-related policies,
D. whereas the
dismantling of the EU's internal border controls is one of the greatest
achievements of European integration,
E. whereas
the rights and institutional role assigned to national parliaments for the first
time by the Treaty of Lisbon will have a positive impact on the development and
functioning of the AFSJ in particular, not least because it will provide a
better guarantee that the subsidiarity principle will be respected,
F. whereas citizens are directly represented at Union level in the European Parliament and the Member States are represented in the Council by their respective governments, which themselves are democratically accountable to their national parliaments; whereas, consequently, the necessary parliamentarisation of the European Union must rely, on one hand, on broadening the European Parliament's powers vis--vis all the Union's decision-making and, on the other hand, on greater control of the national governments by their respective parliaments,
G. whereas joint measures must be confined to the Community's area of competence, and European approaches should be adopted only when they promise to be more successful than national actions,
H. whereas EU
citizensŐ rights and rights of protection, especially data protection, must be
preserved and the common justice and home affairs policy must remain subject to
parliamentary supervision,
I. whereas the
accession of the Union to the European Convention on the protection of human
rights and fundamental freedoms, provided for by the Treaty of Lisbon, will not
affect the protection of fundamental rights in the Union based on the Charter
and the case-law of the Court of Justice, and will constitute a precious
element of supplementary protection, while bearing in mind that a clear
distinction between the jurisdictions of the ECHR and the Court of Justice will
have to be established,
.J whereas transparency in the law-making process must be paramount and citizens and whereas national parliaments and citizens should be able to follow and monitor the definition and implementation of AFSJ-related policies,
K. whereas it is
necessary, in the interests of combating organised crime, fraud and corruption
in a robust and timely manner, and of protecting the financial interests of the
EU, to strengthen police and judicial cooperation, to involve Europol and
Eurojust more systematically in investigations, to create the office of
European Prosecutor, and to achieve effective and measurable results, and
whereas EU citizens want the EU to play an enhanced role in combating
corruption,
L. whereas in the field of civil
justice the priorities for the next five years must reflect the needs expressed
by individual citizens and business,
M. whereas mutual
recognition, as the cornerstone of the AFSJ,
requires mutual trust and confidence in other countries' legal systems, and
whereas those values can be secured only through mutual knowledge and
understanding, thus creating a European judicial culture,
N. whereas
the European judicial area must be built on a European judicial culture among
practitioners, the judiciary and prosecutors which is not only based on Union law but developed through mutual knowledge and
understanding of the national judicial systems, a root-and-branch revamping of
university curricula, exchanges, study visits and common training with the
active support of the European Judicial Training Network and the Academy of
European Law,
O. whereas mutual trust also depends on an ongoing valuation of the effectiveness and results of the various national systems, conducted at both the national and the European levels; whereas in this connection reference must be made to the invaluable work of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice at the Council of Europe,
P. whereas the
European networks in the various sectors of the judicial system (the European
Judicial Training Network, the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary,
the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Courts of the European Union, the
Eurojustice network of European Prosecutors-General, the European Judicial
Network in civil and commercial matters, and networks of practitioners) must
play an active role in the further realisation of a European judicial culture,
having regard to Parliament's resolution of 10 September 1991 on the
establishment of a European Law Academy[1],
its position of 24 September 2002 on the adoption of a Council decision setting
up a European judicial training network[2]
and its resolution of 9 July 2008 on the role of the national judge in the
European judicial system[3],
and its recommendation of 7 May 2009 to the Council on development of an EU
criminal justice area (2009/2012(INI))[4],
Q. whereas
globalisation affects not only the financial sector but increasingly the AFSJ;
whereas it necessitates a more holistic policy approach together with measures
to tackle the urgent questions of migration and asylum, and calls especially
for deeper exchanges and cooperation between those involved in the policies of
justice and home affairs, development, international trade and social affairs,
R. whereas
cybercrime has been significantly increasing over the past years, leading to
more complex judicial challenges and placing a burden on the capacities of
courts; whereas, on account of these developments, it is necessary to examine
the setting-up of a European Court of Cyber Affairs specialising in matters
related to cybercrime,
Looking
forward to the AFSJ under the Treaty of Lisbon
1. Notes that the new multiannual programme
in the AFSJ is likely to be adopted and implemented under the new legal
framework defined by the Treaty of Lisbon, so that it must already embody all
the innovations therein according to which:
– Schengen cooperation,
which enshrines the freedom of movement of persons within the EU, is confirmed as the core of the AFSJ and the
Schengen area should be further enlarged;
– Union citizenship and the protection of fundamental rights will
become the core of AFSJ-related policies, and EU
institutions will be called upon to observe the principle of the
equality of EU citizens;
– the
decision-making process will be strengthened by the use of the ordinary
legislative procedure, all under the judicial supervision of the Court of
Justice,
– additional
safeguards will secure strict respect for the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality in the AFSJ by ensuring that a number of national parliaments can launch an Ôalert procedureŐ
as well as by conferring on a single Member State the right to make use of an
Ôemergency brakeŐ when it considers that a draft legal instrument in the field
of judicial cooperation in criminal matters is liable to affect essential
elements of its internal national order; the use of the emergency brake will
normally lead to enhanced cooperation among a core group of States which wish
to integrate their policies;
2. Points
out that access to justice for citizens and enterprises across Europe's AFSJ is
rendered more complicated and less transparent by the existence of national
opt-outs, and that accordingly, in the interests of fairness, coherence and
simplicity, these should be avoided wherever possible;
3. Observes
that EU action will become more credible as it will be founded on a new or
reshaped legal framework, including new provisions on the protection of
fundamental rights, including rights of national minorities, new provisions for
the prevention of any form of inequality, especially between men and women
(Article 8 TFEU) or any form of discrimination (Article 10 TFEU), provisions
promoting transparency in all the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies
(Article 15 TFEU), provisions on the protection of personal data from the
abuses of private or public entities (Article 16 TFEU), on consular and
diplomatic protection (Article 23 TFEU), on common policies in the fields of
asylum and immigration (Article 77 et seq. TFEU), on enhancing the integration
of third-country nationals (Article 79(4) TFEU), and on improving good
administration (Article 298 TFEU);
2.
4. Welcomes
the fact that the Treaty of Lisbon provides for the codecision procedure to be
the ordinary legislative procedure for aspects of the AFSJ where it has not
been applied to date, thus ensuring that the various facets of European justice
and home affairs policy, and measures taken in pursuit of it, will come under
parliamentary supervision; considers that involving the European Parliament in
the ratification of international agreements is no more than the necessary
complement to the powers and responsibilities that will be conferred on it at
an internal level, particularly as regards matters covered by the current third
pillar;
5. Emphasises the importance of
extending without restriction the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice, both in
order to make preliminary rulings on any question arising from the AFSJ and in
order to allow the Commission to launch infringement proceedings[5];
6. Stresses
the importance of the Treaty of Lisbon, which gives legally binding force to
the Charter, Article 24 of which specifically regulates the rights of the child
and provides, inter alia, that Ô[in] all actions relating to children, whether
taken by public authorities or private institutions, the child's best interests
shall be a primary considerationŐ;
7. Considers
that the principle of solidarity between Member States, and between Member
States and the Union, takes on particular significance in the AFSJ and must be
converted into active, compulsory solidarity
particularly as regards border control, immigration, civil protection and the
solidarity clause;
A more coherent,
transparent and democratic multiannual programme
8. Considers that the Stockholm programme
should in particular:
– address
the problems of migration in solidarity;
– strike
a better balance between the security of citizens (e.g. protection of external
borders, prosecution of trans-border crime) and the protection of their
individual rights;
– provide
citizens with fair access to justice; and
– settle
the practical problems which citizens face in the European Union in matters
subject to different legal orders;
9. considers that, in the
implementation of this programme, a priority objective
should be to ensure, in a spirit of loyal cooperation, that citizens benefit
from an equivalent level of protection of their fundamental rights wherever
they are, whether they are faced with public power exercised by the Union,
including agencies and other bodies, and Member States and that no-one should
suffer disadvantages in exercising fundamental freedoms conferred upon Union
citizens in accordance with the tradition of human rights and the rule of law
common to the Member States;
10. Points
out that in the new legal and institutional framework created by the Treaty of
Lisbon further action in the AFSJ can be developed only by duly associating the
European Parliament and national parliaments and civil
society in an appropriate manner, with a view to building an open and
continuous debate;
11. Calls
for a more transparent law-making process at EU and
national level and welcomes the use of the ordinary
legislative procedure, which will allow for the widest application of the right
of access to documents and information in the decision-making process,
especially in cases where a proposal could affect the rights of the individual
and of the citizen, regardless of whether the initiative is submitted by the
Commission or by a group of Member States;
12. Announces – in the interests of transparent law-making at an international level where the Commission has gained Community competence leaving Parliament merely with the right of assent, as is particularly evidenced by the developments in connection with the Hague Conference on Private International Law – that it is committed to following developments at the Hague Conference on Private International Law closely; undertakes to sponsor the creation of a Parliamentary Forum, open to interested MEPs and members of national parliaments, with a view to providing a means of informing parliamentarians about developments in the Conference and its work and achievements and allowing the various issues to be debated in a public forum;
13. Welcomes the creation by the Treaty of Lisbon of a framework
for the evaluation of AFSJ
policies and calls for the establishment of a concrete monitoring and evaluation system, notably in the area of justice, which
focuses the quality,
efficiency and fairness of existing legal instruments, of the
administration of justice and
of the protection of fundamental rights, closely involving the European Parliament and national
parliaments; notes that there are currently several evaluation systems in place
in the AFSJ and that these need to be consolidated into a single and coherent
framework, covering all aspects from ex-ante evaluations to the evaluation of
the implementation of legislation; considers that evaluations carried out by
different EU bodies should be better coordinated; calls
for the creation of the evaluation system to give Parliament and national
parliaments access to information related to the policies (Article 70 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) and activities of the internal
security committee (Article 71 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union) as well as of EUROPOL (Article 88 of the Treaty on the Functioning of
the European Union) and Eurojust (Article 85 of the Treaty on the Functioning
of the European Union), together with Frontex, the European Asylum Support
Office and Schengen; considers, in this framework, that Parliament should be
granted the right to deliver a binding opinion on the appointment of the
agencies' directors (as Parliament is also the budgetary authority); considers
further that, in order to frame Parliament's cooperation with national
parliaments within the AFSJ, it would be worth creating a permanent forum of
representatives at political level (two per Chamber + two substitutes) meeting
twice a year and sharing a common workspace where all the information dealing
with the AFSJ, including that of a restricted nature, could be shared in real
time); considers also that the representatives of the national parliaments
should be allowed to attend Parliament's proceedings at committee level and
during Parliament's annual debate on the progress of the AFSJ;
14. Calls for a periodic assessment of the results
achieved within the multiannual programme to be the subject of an annual debate
in the European Parliament, which should involve civil society and focus on the
protection of fundamental rights in the EU and which should be based on reports
from the Council, the Commission, the European Data Protection Supervisor and
the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), as well as assessments
and studies by independent experts, input from civil society organisations and
Parliament's resolutions;
15. Welcomes
support to victims of crime, including women subjected to violence and sexual
harassment, as a priority issue for the Swedish Presidency; urges the Council
to include in the Stockholm programme a comprehensive European strategy aiming
at eradicating violence against women, comprising prevention measures (such as
awareness-raising concerning male violence against women), policies on the
protection of victims including a specific section on the rights of victims of
crime, and strengthening support to victims of crime, in particular young
girls, who are increasingly the victims of significant crimes, and concrete
measures to prosecute perpetrators; calls on the Spanish Presidency, during its
term in office, to fully implement the action plan laid down in the Stockholm
programme and to report to Parliament every month on the progress made;
A Europe of
rights
16. Calls for action to be taken fully to
inform EU citizens and residents of their fundamental rights, including
awareness-raising campaigns targeting both the general public and vulnerable
groups, non-formal education initiatives and non-discrimination and equality
mainstreaming in formal education curricula, as well as to make EU and Member
States' institutions active in the AFSJ more aware of the core importance of
fundamental rights, and to identify ways of seeking redress, either at
national or European level, in cases where those rights are violated;
17. Calls
for the prompt
adoption by the Council of the horizontal directive on non-discrimination and
for the implementation of the existing legal instruments; considers that diversity enriches the Union and
that the Union must be a safe environment where differences and national
sensitivities are respected and the most vulnerable, such as the Roma, are
protected; therefore insists that a priority in the Stockholm programme should
be actively to increase awareness of anti-discrimination legislation and gender
quality and to fight poverty, discrimination on grounds
of gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religious affiliation or belief,
colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, racism,
anti-Semitism, xenophobia and homophobia and to protect children and minorities;
considers that the full use of the existing instruments and measures to tackle
violence against women should be vigorously pursued and applied; calls,
therefore, on the Spanish Presidency and the following Presidencies to make
progress during their terms of office on the European protection order so as to
ensure that victims of such crimes enjoy the same level of protection in all
the Member States;
18. Considers it essential that all EU measures in this field respect and promote childrenŐs rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and recognised in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and calls for enhanced EU action on child protection throughout the AFSJ;
19. Urges
Member States to ensure that EU asylum, migration and trafficking policies in
this field treat migrant children as children first and foremost, and to ensure
that they benefit from their rights as children without discrimination;
therefore insists that any EU action plan on unaccompanied minors of third
country origin must ensure that:
(a)
all unaccompanied children receive
special protection and assistance whilst in the EU;
(b)
the EU identifies actions which will
support Member States in finding a secure, concrete and durable solution for
each child in the childŐs best interests;
(c)
where return to a third country is in
the best interests of the child, a proper return and reintegration process is
put in place in cooperation with the country of return; and
(d)
the EU cooperates with third countries
to prevent unsafe migration and to provide opportunities for children in the
countries concerned;
20. points
out that children of third-country origin can find themselves particularly
vulnerable to exploitative labour situations, especially in countries where they
are not provided with adequate assistance and protection because of their
undocumented status; insists that EU policies in the fields of labour, asylum,
migration and human trafficking must recognise and address these realities;
21. Stresses the need to
mainstream protection of personal data and privacy in the light of developing
technologies and the creation of large-scale information systems;
3.
22. Recalls that, with the
Treaty of Lisbon, the Charter will become binding, on the same footing as the
Treaties, and entirely applicable to all measures taken under the AFSJ, and
that compliance with the Charter will be monitored by the Court of Justice; deplores, however, the introduction of the protocol
limiting the effect of the Charter on the domestic law of two Member States and
reiterates its concerns about the inequality among people this may produce;
4.
23. Recalls
also that the Union is acceding to the ECHR, and
that, consequently, negotiations with a view to the UnionŐs accession to the
ECHR should start immediately;
24. Points out that, by the introduction of the Ôcitizens initiativeŐ into the Treaty of Lisbon, citizens will play a direct role in the exercise of the Union's sovereign power by being, for the first time, directly involved in the initiation of European legislative proposals; strongly requests that this new instrument be implemented in a way that really encourages people to use it and calls on the Commission to take duly into account all the initiatives that fulfil the legal criteria;
25. Considers that effective protection and promotion of fundamental rights form the basis of democracy in Europe and are prerequisites for the consolidation of the AFSJ;
26. Calls for a thorough
and impartial review of the necessity, proportionality and effectiveness of
existing measures in the area of freedom and justice, including their impact on
the protection and promotion of EU values and principles and of fundamental
rights of citizens; calls for an impact assessment in
respect of fundamental rights and EU values for every new policy, legislative
proposal and programme, which assessment should clearly state what fundamental
rights may be affected and what measures are envisaged to safeguard them in
accordance with principles of proportionality and necessity; considers that the
FRA should be consulted throughout the policy cycle of legislative proposals
which have fundamental and human rights implications;
27. Recalls that, from
the viewpoint of an ordinary citizen, one of the biggest threats to internal security
is social exclusion; points out that unemployment and other income problems,
such as over-indebtedness, aggravated by the global financial crisis, increase
the risk of exclusion and that ethnic minorities are extensively vulnerable, as
they also face the risk of becoming victims of discrimination and racist crime;
28. Calls
for the collection and compilation by the FRA of reliable, comparable
statistics on all grounds of discrimination,
including discrimination against national minorities, and for the equal treatment of those different grounds, and their publication in readily understandable form and shares the
view of the Trio Council Presidencies (Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian) that a possible review of the mandate of the FRA should be undertaken as soon as
possible and that such a review will afford an opportunity to deepen
cooperation with the Council of Europe and scope for consideration of a
possible extension of the mandate of the FRA, which currently requires it to
examine the situation of fundamental rights within the European Union;
29. Considers the death penalty to be a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and urges the Union and its Member States vigorously to work for its abolition in all countries of the world;
30. Calls on the Commission
further to develop the interinstitutional agreement in the light of the Treaty
of Lisbon and the consequences of the link between the ECHR, the European Court
of Human Rights and the EU institutions;
31. Stresses that, while
EU law and policy-makers have adopted an extensive body of law to combat the
multiple discrimination suffered by women from minority backgrounds, especially
Roma women, no significant progress can be demonstrated; therefore calls on the
Member States to review the implementation of all policies related to the
phenomenon of multiple discrimination;
32. Calls on the Council, the Commission and
Member States to evaluate and review current international, European and
national laws and policies on drugs and to promote harm reduction policies,
notably with a view to the conferences on those issues held at UN level;
Stronger rights
linked to Union citizenship
33. Intends to initiate a new proposal for fundamental reform of the law governing elections to the European Parliament; reiterates its position that, in order to encourage European citizens to take part in European elections in their place of residence, the Council, under arrangements that it has already been called on to establish, should act to facilitate the right to vote and to stand as a candidate;
34. Welcomes the provision in the Lisbon Treaty for a citizens' initiative and urges the Commission to take due account of the role of Parliament and the existing right of petition when presenting a proposal for the practical modalities for its implementation;
35. Calls on the Member States fully
to implement the rights linked to Union citizenship, so that Union citizens can
exercise their right to free movement together with members of their family,
thus enabling them to travel, work, study, retire, participate in politics and
democratic life, and have a family life without restriction anywhere in the
Union, making sure that they retain the right to all social benefits regardless
of where they live; considers that Member States should ensure that EU citizens
can easily exercise their right to vote in municipal elections;
36. Calls
on Member States to ensure that the principle of mutual
recognition is also applied to same-sex couples in the EU – notably
married couples, partners or de facto couples – at least in relation to
rights relating to freedom of movement;
37. Calls on the
Commission and the Member States to explore ways in which the free movement of
EU citizens can be facilitated by helping EU citizens who choose to make use of
that right to integrate and participate in the host country to which they
choose to migrate in the exercise of their right to freedom of movement within
the European Union;
38. Calls on the Member States to implement in a fair and consistent way their obligation to ensure consular and diplomatic protection for Union citizens through the implementation of an agreement on the minimum amount of consular assistance offered to EU citizens outside EU territory;
39. Calls on the Council
and the Commission to give priority to improving transparency and access to
documents, as these are essential for the purposes of achieving a
citizen-oriented EU;
.40 Welcomes the
reference made in the Stockholm programme to participation in the democratic
life of the European Union; urges the Council to include in the Stockholm
programme a specific section on the appropriate measures needed to empower
women's participation in electoral campaigns and political life in general,
with a view to thereby eliminating the democratic deficit that still exists due
to the limited presence of women in municipal, national and European elections;
.41 Considers the
objective of a secure Europe to be legitimate and agrees that it is important
continuously to develop and strengthen the EU's common policy on the fight
against terrorism, organised crime, illegal immigration, human trafficking and
sexual exploitation;
A Europe which
protects its citizens
42. Urges
the Commission and
the Member States to ensure
that future EU action in this field fully respects the core importance of
fundamental rights and freedoms and strikes the right balance between security and freedom, and that this objective is adequately monitored and
streamlined;
43. Considers that a Ôprivacy by designŐ approach must be an essential feature of any development which risks jeopardising the security of personal information relating to individuals and the publicŐs trust and confidence in those who hold information about them;
44. Deplores the lack of
progress in implementing the upgraded Schengen Information System II (SIS II)
and the new Visa Information System (VIS), and urges the Commission and the
Member States to ensure that all preparations at their respective levels are
reinforced so as to avoid further delays;
45. Criticises the lack
of a comprehensive master plan setting out the overall objectives and
architecture of the EU's security and border management strategy as well as the
absence of details showing how all related programmes and schemes (whether
already in place, in the course of preparation or at the stage of policy
development) are supposed to function together and how relationships between
them can be optimised; takes the view that, when considering the architecture
of the EUŐs security and border management strategy, the Commission should
analyse first of all the effectiveness of the existing legislation, in order to
bring about the optimal synergies between them;
46. In
the new institutional framework defined by the Treaty of Lisbon, is committed
to working with the Commission and the Council to focus on promoting the freedom of EU citizens while
developing the EU legal framework in criminal matters; indeed, the imperative
of protecting citizens against terrorism and organised crime should be supported by effective legislative and
operational tools,
taking into account the global dimension of these phenomena, and framed
in clear legislation which affords EU citizens full enjoyment of their
rights, including the right to challenge disproportionate or unclear rules and the inappropriate implementation of rules;
47. to focus on promoting the freedom of EU citizens while
developing the EU legal framework in criminal matters; indeed, the imperative
of protecting citizens against terrorism and organised crime should be framed
in clear legislation which affords EU citizens disproportionate or unclear
rules ;
48. Urges the Council and
the Commission to develop security strategies that cater for both the internal
and external aspects of international organised crime and terrorism; insists
that the EU adopts a more integrated approach to European Security and Defence
Policy and to justice and home affairs;
49. Considers that Member States should examine to what extent the
creation of an EU legal framework in criminal matters can be achieved;
50. Calls on the EU to
recognise the dignity, courage and suffering of indirect victims of terrorism
and stresses that defending and promoting the rights of victims of terrorism
and subsequently providing economic compensation for them should be a priority;
recognises the extreme vulnerability of women as indirect victims of terrorism;
51. Considers that the exercise of these freedoms must be secured beyond national borders, and that EU citizens must be able to fully exercise their specific rights, even outside the Union; therefore emphasises the importance of strengthening the coordination and cooperation of consular protection;
52. Presses
for the guarantee that the fundamental rights dimension of data protection and
the right to privacy will be respected in all the Union's policies;
53. Points out that the
principle of availability is liable to allow the exchange of personal data that
have not been collected legitimately and lawfully and that it must be
underpinned by common rules; expresses doubts with regard to the facilitation
of operational activities that do not include a European definition and common
standards concerning covert investigations, surveillance of citizens, etc.;
54. Believes
that, before EU action is envisaged in this field, clear criteria should be
laid down for assessing the proportionality and necessity of limitations to
fundamental rights; considers, furthermore, that the consequences of any
proposal should always be carefully analysed before a decision is taken;
55. Welcomes the proposal
for international standards in data protection; emphasises that data protection
agreements with third countries should be conducted in full transparency, with
democratic scrutiny of Parliament and that European level data protection
standards in the third State are a minimum prerequisite for data exchange to
take place;
56. Calls on the Member
States to respect and implement the rights of the child as enshrined in the
Convention on the Rights of the Child;
57. Considers it urgent
to address the question of protection of unaccompanied and separated children,
given the special risks to which they are exposed;
58. Underlines the need
to further promote the international presence of the EU in the legal field by
way of global solutions and multilateral instruments; believes that close
cooperation with international organisations, such as the Hague Conference on
Private International Law and the Council of Europe, is of particular
importance; believes further that
the EU should encourage and support the accession of third countries,
especially those neighbouring the EU, to international judicial agreements, and
that this is of key importance especially in the field of family law and child
protection;
59. Welcomes the emphasis
given to the importance of technology in the Stockholm programme in the context
of effective protection of personal data and privacy;
60. Urges the European
Union to show its determination to take into account in all its policies, the
special needs of vulnerable people;
61. Stresses the need for
clearer and tighter limits on exchanges of information between Member States
and the use of common EU registers; takes the view that, otherwise, building up
large registers at EU level is liable to threaten personal integrity and
registers may become ineffective while the risk of leaks and corruption will
increase;
62. Considers that any
comprehensive approach to immigration must take account of the "push
factors" that lead people to leave their countries in the first place, and
necessitates clear plans for development and investment in the countries of
origin and transit, in particular by facilitating money transfers from migrants
to their countries of origin or by putting in place trade and agricultural
policies that promote economic opportunities, as well as through the
development of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental
freedoms;
63. Underlines that
"en masse" regularisation of illegal immigrants is not an adequate
response since such a measure does not resolve the actual underlying problems
and may even exacerbate the overall problem by acting as a ÔpullŐ factor;
64. Calls for the
adoption of a comprehensive legal framework offering victims adequate
protection and compensation, namely through the adoption of a draft framework
decision amending the existing instruments on the protection of victims;
considers it of fundamental importance to develop a joint approach with a
consistent and strengthened response to the needs and rights of all victims,
ensuring that victims are treated as such rather than as criminals;
65. Welcomes the proposal
for a comprehensive data protection scheme in the EU and with third countries;
calls for a thorough evaluation of all relevant legislation (counter-terrorism,
police and judicial cooperation, immigration, transatlantic agreements) in the
area of privacy and data protection;
66. Urges the European
Union to tackle in a stronger way any abuses committed against children, such
as violence, discrimination, social exclusion and racism, child labour,
prostitution and trafficking and to stimulate a coordinated effort to protect
them and to uphold their rights, using the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child as a guide for EU action and serving as basis for amending
existing legislation;
67. Notes
the growing importance of the Internet and that the
global and open nature of the Internet requires global standards for data
protection, security and freedom of speech; calls on the Council and the
Commission to take the initiative in establishing a global platform for the
elaboration of such standards; considers it extremely important strictly to
limit, define and regulate the cases in which a private Internet company may be
required to disclose data to government authorities, and to ensure that the use
of those data by government authorities is subject to the strictest data
protection standards;
A Europe of
solidarity
68. Stresses the need for
the continued development of adequately funded and ambitious Regional Protection
Programmes in close cooperation with the UNHCR and the third countries
involved;
69. Calls for the consolidation and putting into practice of a
policy on immigration and asylum whereby freedoms and public security are
properly balanced; urges that integration, immigration and asylum
policies be built on full respect of fundamental rights and the dignity of all
persons and underlines
the importance of Community
law being fully compatible with international legal
instruments in this field, so as to ensure a consistent approach and develop
coherent action, not only in the fight against illegal immigration, but also to
help refugees in distress; looks forward to preventive measures leading to minimisation of the inflow of
irregular migrants;
70. Reaffirms
that the Union and the Member States must make a concerted effort to integrate
vulnerable groups, in particular the Roma community, fully into society by
promoting their inclusion in the education system and labour market and by
taking action to prevent violence against them;
71. Urges
the formulation of a stronger immigration policy closely connected with other
Community policies, especially with employment policy, so as to constitute
legal immigration as an alternative to illegal immigration and maximise the
positive effect both for the Member States and for the well-being of the
immigrants themselves;
72. Insists
on the need to consolidate the EU global approach to migration which offers the
possibility for new ways of political dialogue and cooperation with third
countries in order to improve migratory flows, to prevent humanitarian
tragedies and to make such flows match labour market requirements;
73. Highlights
the need to achieve a close fit between migration and development policies and
to step up the dialogue with countries of origin and transit, notably with a
view to averting the problem of illegal migration; stresses in this regard that
effective joint action against illegal migration will put the Member States in
a better position to make provisions for legal migration;
74. Calls
for the further development of the Common European Asylum System to establish a
ŇEurope of asylumÓ as foreseen in the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum;
a common procedure should ensure greater consistency and better quality of
asylum decision-making across Member States in order to close the protection
gap in Europe;
75. Urges
the Council and the Member States to respect the legal definition of a refugee
as enshrined in the United Nations Refugee Convention;
76. Considers
that, whereas solidarity must remain at the centre of a common immigration and
asylum policy, it must also include solidarity with Member States who comply
with their international obligations concerning the protection of refugees and
asylum seekers and therefore ensure that no Member State fails to do so;
77. Encourages
negotiations on pending and forthcoming legislative proposals on European
asylum instruments to achieve improved standards and to address gaps in the
existing legal framework;
78. Calls
furthermore, for solidarity between Member States on the one hand, and asylum
seekers and other refugees on the other;
79. Calls on Member States actively to engage
and show their full commitment to solidarity mechanisms such as the pilot
project for internal reallocation of beneficiaries of international protection
envisaged by the Commission, as well as other initiatives which lead to the
establishment of true long-term solidarity amongst Member States, and to promote regional protection
programmes; estime cet gard qu'un systme
transparent d'valuation des capacits relatives des tats membres devra tre
adopt, et la mission du Bureau europen d'appui cet gard prcise; sur
cette base, appelle un dbat ouvert sur les diffrentes options en prsence
pour la dfinition d'un mcanisme obligatoire de solidarit effective,
notamment travers la rinstallation interne;
(80. Calls in this regard for the prompt formalisation of the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility as provided for in Article 80 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which should involve a system of "compulsory and irrevocable solidarity" together with greater cooperation with third countries and notably neighbouring countries, designed to help develop their asylum and protection systems in a manner which respects fundamental rights and international protection norms, sets realistic expectations, and does not undermine or seek to replace access to protection in the European Union;
81. Believes that a
partnership approach with the countries of origin and transit is needed in
order to ensure that they play an active part in helping to manage migration
flows, to prevent irregular immigration by informing potential migrants of the
risks involved and to set up effective information campaigns on the
possibilities for entering and/or working legally in the EU Member States;
82. Stresses that all agreements with countries of origin and
transit, such as Turkey and Libya, should include chapters on cooperation on
immigration, taking due account of the situation of Member States most
exposed to migratory flows and with an emphasis on
fighting irregular immigration and trafficking in human beings by facilitating the work of FRONTEX;
83. Calls for further
cooperation on the strengthening of measures to ensure the effective and rapid
return of illegally staying migrants who are not in need of protection, giving
priority to voluntary returns;
84. Calls for the
adoption of measures to address the obstacles to the exercise of the right to
family reunification by third-country nationals residing lawfully in Member
States;
85. Points out that circular migration should be promoted, but recalls that this approach must not amount to wage and social dumping and must not ignore the need for integration measures;
86. Underlines
the importance of taking into consideration the rights of the child and paying
special attention to children in particularly vulnerable situations in the
context of immigration policy; an ambitious European strategy must be developed
in this field;
87. Calls
for the adoption of a comprehensive blueprint setting out the overall
objectives and architecture of the UnionŐs integrated border management
strategy, in order genuinely to implement a common policy on asylum,
immigration and external border control, pursuant to Article 67(2) of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
88. Calls
on Member States to reinforce mutual trust and confidence in each other's
capability to strengthen security; considers that mutual trust also depends
upon an efficient and rigorous on-going evaluation of the effectiveness and
results of the actions of various Member States;
89. Calls
for a strategic approach in the field of visa policy in order to preserve the
coherence of actions, internal regulations and external commitments, including
the safeguarding of equal treatment of Member States by third countries;
90. Urges
the Commission, so as to execute more effectively the visa reciprocity
principle with third countries and thereby ensure equal treatment of all EU
citizens in this regard, to reinvent its strategy by using all the tools at its
disposal, such as sanctions, and linking this issue to its negotiations with
those third countries;
91. Insists
that new border management instruments or large-scale data storage systems
should not be launched until the existing tools are fully operational, safe and
reliable, and calls for a thorough assessment of the necessity and
proportionality of new instruments relating to matters such as entry/exit, the
registered traveller programme, PNR and the system of prior travel
authorisation;
92. Considers
that priority should be given to narrow the wide gap between the rules and
policies approved at European level and their implementation at national level;
93. Considers that the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX), as an essential instrument in the Union's global strategy on immigration, must fully respect the human rights of migrants; calls for greater parliamentary scrutiny of its activities and supports the review of its mandate – including a clear framework for return operations meeting international human rights standards and the establishment of regional and specialised offices – in order to strengthen its role; considers that FRONTEX should be involved in negotiations with third countries concerning readmission operations;
94. Calls on the
Commission to simplify the financial programmes established to support the
creation of the AFSJ and to make them more accessible; in this context,
underlines the need for financial solidarity in the preparation of new
financial perspectives;
95. Recalls
the absolute necessity for FRONTEX to be able to count on the availability of
the resources placed at its disposal by the Member States, both for its
coordination of the individual joint operations and for its permanent missions;
96. Calls
for initiatives to enable, with the cooperation of UNHCR, a system for the
joint processing of asylum requests in countries outside the European Union;
97. Calls
upon all Member States concerned to solve potential practical and/or legal
problems with regard to the use of the resources of the respective Member
States involved in joint operations;
98. Recalls
the absolute necessity for SIS II and VIS to be able to start operations as
soon as possible; considers that SIS II will bring considerable improvements
and new functionalities, such as the introduction of biometric data and the
interlinking of alerts, that will contribute to better control of external
borders and strengthened security;
99. Recalls
that in certain areas, the creation of Agencies, for instance, the European
Union Fundamental Rights Agency, Eurojust, Europol, Frontex and the Asylum
Support Office, has been very useful for the establishment of an area of
freedom, security and justice; considers that, taking into account that
Schengen is the core of the area of freedom, security and justice, it is
fundamental and vital to create an European agency for the management of
substantial information systems on this area, namely SIS II, VIS and Eurodac,
because this is the most reliable solution;
100. Calls
for special attention to be paid to minors, whether accompanied or not, in
order to ensure that they are not held in any form of detention;
Civil and
commercial justice for families, citizens and business
Greater access to civil justice for citizens and
business
101. Considers
that the priorities in the field of civil justice must first and foremost meet
the needs expressed by individual citizens and business whilst constantly
simplifying the machinery of justice and creating simpler, clearer and more
accessible procedures in order to guarantee the proper enforcement of
fundamental rights and consumer protection; to this end, while commending the
CommissionŐs decisions to present a proposal on wills and successions and a
Green Paper on matrimonial property regimes in connection with separation and
divorce, calls for:
– further
efforts to promote alternative dispute resolution aiming in particular at
improving access to justice for consumers; the introduction of collective
redress mechanisms at Community level so as to grant citizens and businesses
greater access to justice, whilst noting that this must not lead to unnecessary
fragmentation of national procedural law;
– proposals
for a simple and autonomous European system for the attachment of bank accounts
and the temporary freezing of bank deposits, the mutual recognition and
enforcement of authentic acts, the abolition of requirements for legalisation
of documents, provisions to fill the gaps left in the Rome II Regulation[6]
concerning rights of the personality and defamation, a definitive solution to
the problem of bilateral agreements dealing with jurisdiction and the
recognition and enforcement of judgments, if necessary by means of a Protocol
to the next accession Treaty to be concluded; consideration to be given in
addition to a proposal for an international instrument permitting a thorough
check of all judgments from third countries before they may be recognised and
enforced in a Member State; and provisions to fill the lacuna highlighted by
the Court of Justice in the field of company law, a proposal on the protection
of vulnerable adults, and a proposal for a regulation, for adoption if
necessary by recourse to enhanced cooperation, on the law applicable in
matrimonial matters and parental responsibility, based on the best interests of
children and non-discrimination between partners;
– detailed consideration
to be given to a form of Community provisional measure additional to those
which may be ordered by national courts, to the divergent national legal
approaches to retention of title and other similar mechanisms, to the
recognition of international adoptions, and to the whole question of the mutual
recognition of national civil status documents;
– a
Community Conflicts Code bringing together in one instrument all the
regulations adopted in this area by the Community legislator by 2013 to mark
the anniversary of the Brussels Convention, the conclusion of which was a
milestone in private international law;
– the
practical application of the large amount of innovative legislation adopted to
date in the field of European civil procedure, to be studied with a view to
simplifying it where possible and codifying it into a single instrument
bringing together all the Community legislation adopted in this area;
102. Insists
that the abolition of exequatur in the context of the Brussels I Regulation
should not be rushed and should be accompanied by appropriate safeguards;
103. Would
be keen to examine proposals to draw up an optional 28th scheme for
civil‑law issues with cross‑border aspects in areas affecting
family law, the rights of individuals and property law;
Reaping the full benefits of the
single market through European contract law
104. Calls on the Commission to boost its work on European contract law on the basis of the academic Draft Common Frame of Reference, as well as other academic works in the field of European contract law, and to involve Parliament fully in the open and democratic process which must lead to the adoption of a political Common Frame of Reference ; emphasises that the political Common Frame of Reference should result in an optional and directly applicable instrument enabling parties to a contract, inter alia companies and consumers, freely to choose European contract law as the law governing their transaction;
105. Considers
that legal cooperation is the key to bringing not only the civil, but also the
criminal procedures of different Member States closer to each other; considers
therefore, that the approximation of procedural rights of citizens between the
Member States should be promoted equally in civil and criminal proceedings;
106. Reiterates
that the Draft Common Frame of Reference should be made available by the
Commission in the greatest possible number of relevant languages along with
other scientific works in order to ensure their accessibility for all
interested stakeholders and should already be used as a non-binding legal tool
for European and national legislators; insists that already now the relevant
provisions of the DCFR be given systematic and detailed consideration in all
forthcoming Commission proposals and impact assessments affecting contract law;
107. Encourages
the Commission to pursue its recent idea of proposing standard contracts for
voluntary use in specific sectors on the basis of the Common Frame of
Reference;
Fighting crime
whilst guaranteeing citizensŐ rights
108. Calls for the
development of a comprehensive, cross-European strategy on the fight against
organised crime, combining efforts and resources at the disposal of Member
States, European institutions, specialised EU agencies and information exchange
networks; stresses at this time that organised economic crime, such as tobacco
smuggling, results in revenue losses that add to the already serious public
finance situation of many EU Member States and calls for the urgent adoption of
effective preventive measures;
Priorities in criminal justice
109. Calls
for the construction of an EU criminal justice area based on respect for
fundamental rights, the principle of mutual recognition, and the need to
maintain the coherence of national systems of criminal law, to be developed
through:
- an ambitious legal instrument on procedural
safeguards in criminal proceedings, based on the presumption of innocence,
which gives full effect to the rights of the defence,
- a sound legal framework ensuring the basic principle of
ne bis in idem and facilitating the transfer of criminal proceedings between
Member States and the resolution of conflicts of jurisdiction, with a high
level of guarantees and defence rights, and ensuring effective access to
these rights and to legal redress mechanisms;
● a comprehensive legal framework offering victims of crime and in particular victims of terrorism, organised crime, trafficking in human beings and gender violence, the widest possible protection, including adequate compensation, to be provided for at Member State level,
- ● a
common legal framework
offering witnesses the widest protection,
● minimum standards for prison and detention conditions and a common
set of prisonersŐ rights in the EU, including appropriate compensation
rules for persons unjustly detained or convicted, bolstered by the conclusion of agreements between the EU and
third countries for the return of their convicted nationals, the full
implementation of Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA and the provision of
sufficient EU funding for both the construction, in the context of regional
security plans, of new detention facilities in Member States affected by prison
overcrowding and the implementation of social resettlement programmes; and a
comprehensive legal instrument on the taking and admissibility of evidence in
criminal proceedings;● the adoption of a European legislative instrument to enable the
profits and assets of international criminal organisations to be confiscated
and reused for social purposes,
- a comprehensive legal instrument on the
taking and admissibility of evidence in criminal proceedings;
● ensuring legal aid through sufficient budgetary allocations; and
● measures for combating violence, particularly violence against women
and children;
110.Stresses that work on illegal immigration
must take into account efforts to combat trafficking in persons and must not in
any way be allowed to penalise particularly vulnerable crime victims,
especially women and children, or to jeopardise their rights;
111. Stresses
that one out of four women in Europe has been or is subjected to male violence;
therefore calls on the Commission to consolidate the legal base within the
current EU structure to ensure that all forms of violence against women are
addressed through a broad and gender-based definition of violence against
women; requests that, based on this legal base, a directive and a European
Action Plan on violence against women, ensuring prevention of violence,
protection of victims and prosecution of perpetrators be brought forward; calls
on the Member States to take due account of the special circumstances of female
immigrants, namely young girls who are well-integrated in the EU (often with
dual nationality), and who in parental or intimate relationships, are victims
of abduction, illegal confinement, physical violence and psychological abuse on
religious, cultural or traditional grounds, and to ensure that effective access
to assistance and protection mechanisms are adopted;
112. Insists
that the gender issue be taken into account at all stages of development of the
policy against human trafficking;
A coherent multi-layered security strategy
113. Believes
that further action against organised crime and terrorism should be oriented
more towards the protection of fundamental rights and should provide for
adequate protection of witnesses, incentives for those who cooperate in
dismantling terrorist networks, and prevention and integration policies
addressing in particular individuals belonging to high-risk categories, with
priority in all circumstances for ethical prevention measures at economic and
social level and compensatory and reparatory measures for the victims of
terrorism;
114. Calls
upon the Commission and Member States to cooperate closely in order to exchange
best practice and lessons learned in the area of counter-radicalisation
policies; considers in this regard that local and regional authorities are well
placed to share best practice in tackling radicalisation and polarisation and
therefore calls for their involvement in devising counter-terrorism strategies;
115.Calls on the Commission and the European
Council to urgently remedy the legal situation that has arisen as a result of
the rulings of the Court of Justice in the respective cases with regard to
blacklisting, in particular the Kadi case[7];
in doing so taking full account of the fundamental rights of those concerned,
including the right to due process and redress;
116. Calls
for the annual publication of a comprehensive report on crime in the EU,
consolidating reports relating to specific areas such as assessment of the
threat of organised crime and the Eurojust annual report, and stresses the need
for an interdisciplinary approach and a comprehensive strategy for the
prevention of, and fight against, terrorism and cross-border crimes such as
trafficking in human beings and cybercrime;
117. Considers
it particularly important that the EU should make a serious effort to tackle
trafficking in persons, which is a constantly growing problem, that trafficking
must be combated both outside and inside the EU and that a gender analysis
should be made of all proposals for measures; considers that the EU and Member
States should particularly tackle demand for services from victims of
trafficking in persons by introducing penalties, educational measures and
campaigns to raise awareness; considers that, since trafficking in persons for
sexual purposes constitutes the bulk of this crime in absolute terms (79%
according to UN data), the relationship between demand for the purchase of such
services and trafficking in persons must be made clear and recognised and that,
if demand for the purchase of sexual services is controlled, trafficking in
persons will also be reduced;
118. Highlights
the increase in identity theft and urges the creation of a comprehensive EU
strategy for combating cybercrime in this field to be developed in cooperation
with internet providers and user organisations as well as the creation of an EU
desk offering assistance to victims of identity theft and identity fraud;
119. Calls
for enhancement of the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), in
order to make it possible to prevent reoffending in different Member States, in
particular with regard to offences against children;
120. Calls
for the promotion of transparency and integrity and for a more robust fight
against corruption based on an objectives-oriented plan and on a periodic
evaluation of the anti-corruption measures taken by the Member States, in
particular the enforcement of instruments which have been developed by the EU
itself, with a special focus on trans-border corruption; and for the
development of a comprehensive anti-corruption policy and for the periodical
review of its enforcement;
121. Calls
for more effective and results-oriented policies to further implement police
and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, by associating more
systematically Europol and Eurojust to investigations, in particular in cases
of organised crime, fraud, corruption and other serious crimes which seriously
endanger the security of the citizens and the financial interests of the EU;
122. Calls
in particular on the Commission to begin early discussions and consultations
with interested stakeholders, including civil society, on all aspects related
to the creation of the European Prosecutor's Office for combating crimes
affecting the financial interests of the Union, as provided for in Article 86
of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
123. Calls
for active support of civil society anti-corruption and integrity monitoring,
as well as of citizensŤ engagement against corruption, not only by opening up
policy consultations and establishing direct channels of communication, but
also by dedicating resources and programmes to ensure that citizens can easily
use the spaces provided to them;
124. Emphasises the need for the development of a comprehensive European security strategy, based on the Member States' security plans, a stronger solidarity principle and an objective evaluation of the added value of the EU agencies, networks and information exchanges; intends to follow closely, together with national parliaments, all the activities carried out by the Council in the context of operational cooperation on EU internal security;
125. Calls
for clarification of the rules on jurisdiction and the legal framework
applicable to cyberspace in order to promote cross-border investigations and
cooperation agreements between law enforcement authorities and operators, in
particular for combating child pornography on the internet;
126. Calls
for the encouragement of police cooperation between Member States through the
promotion of mutual knowledge and trust, common training and the creation of
joint teams of police cooperation and of a student exchange programme in
cooperation with CEPOL (European Police Academy);
Operational bodies and agencies
127. Attaches
great importance to strengthening Eurojust and
Europol and is committed to participating fully alongside national parliaments
in defining, evaluating and controlling their activity, in particular with the
aim of exploring the possibilities of making progress on the creation of a
European Public Prosecutor;
128. Calls
for the revision of the framework decision as well as of Regulation (EC) No
45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on
the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by
the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data[8]
and Article 13 of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the
processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data[9];
129. Calls
for closer and more in-depth cooperation between national administrations, European
agencies and joint operative teams via specialised networks (such as the
Schengen Information System II (SIS), the Visa Information System, the Customs
Information System, EURODAC and the judicial
networks) and for specific cooperation between intelligence and police services
at national and European level as far as the fight against terrorism and
organised crime are concerned; considers that more effective European police cooperation
should be guaranteed, among all third countries and Member States of the
European Union with appropriate safeguards that will ensure an adequate level
of protection of personal data;
130. Stresses the need to develop efficient, sustainable and secure administrative arrangements for major European IT systems such as SIS II, VIS and Eurodac, thereby ensuring that all the rules applicable to such systems, with regard to purpose and rights of access as well as security and data-protection provisions, are implemented in full; emphasises, in this regard, that it is essential for the EU to have a comprehensive, uniform set of rules on the protection of personal data;
131. Calls
for the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) to give a
prominent place to records of gender violence;
Building a
European judicial culture
132. Calls for the creation of a European
judicial culture embracing all aspects of the law; to this end, points out
that:
– the Network of the Presidents
of the Supreme Judicial Courts, the European Network of the Councils for the
Judiciary, the Association of the Councils of State and Supreme Administrative
Jurisdictions and the Eurojustice network of European Prosecutors-General,
court officers and legal practitioners have a huge amount to offer by
coordinating and promoting professional training for the judiciary and mutual
understanding of other Member StatesŐ legal systems and making it easier to
resolve cross-border disputes and problems, and their activities must be
facilitated and receive sufficient funding; this must lead to a fully-funded
plan for European judicial training drawn up in liaison with the
above-mentioned judicial networks avoiding unnecessary duplication of
programmes and structures and leading to the creation of a European Judicial
Academy composed of the European Judicial Training Network and the Academy of
European Law;
– there
must be active policies designed to foster mutual knowledge and understanding
of foreign law and so achieve greater legal certainty and foster the mutual
trust essential for mutual recognition; these policies must provide for
exchanges of experiences, exchanges, visits and information and courses for
practitioners and the judiciary, as well as coordination of existing national
regimes for legal training across the EU and provision of familiarisation
courses in national law for legal practitioners and judges;
133.Calls on the Commission, therefore, to
promote the creation by universities, other specialised institutes of higher
education and competent professional organisations of a common system of
training points/credits for judges and legal practitioners; calls on the
Commission to create a network of legal training bodies across the Union
accredited to provide familiarisation courses in national, comparative and
European law for practitioners and judges on a stable, ongoing basis;
134. Invites
the Commission and Member States to establish cross-border law enforcement
cooperation with the involvement of agencies such as Frontex and Europol in
order to contribute to security and the smooth organisation of large
transnational public gatherings such as sport events (for example, Olympics
2012 and EURO 2012);
E-justice: a
facility for citizens, practitioners and the judiciary
135. Calls for a greater effort to promote and
develop e-justice at Community level, in the interests of access to justice for
citizens and business, and considers that:
– Member
States cooperating on bilateral projects should ensure that their work is
designed in a way that is transferable to the Community level, in order to
avoid unnecessary duplication;
– the
existing body of Community law in the field of civil law, in particular
procedural law, should be made more compatible with the use of information
technology, especially as regards the European payment order and the small
claims procedure, the Civil Evidence Regulation[10]
and alternative dispute resolution, and action should be taken in the areas of
electronic acts and transparency of debtorsŐ assets; the aim should be to bring
about simpler, cheaper and faster civil proceedings in cross-border cases;
– electronic
tools such as the European Criminal Records Information System and the SIS
should be further developed;
136. Calls
on the Commission to ensure that all future legislation in the field of civil
law is designed in such a way that it can be used in on-line applications
requiring a minimal amount of free text to be filled in; calls on action to
ensure that, where necessary, on-line help is provided in all official
languages and on-line electronic translation services are available; by the
same token, where there is a need to provide for service of documents,
provision should be made to ensure that documents can be served and
communications effected by electronic mail and signatures provided
electronically and, where there is a need for oral testimony, the use of
video-conferencing should be encouraged; considers, furthermore, that all
future proposals should include a reasoned statement by the Commission that an
audit of e-Justice-friendliness has been carried out;
137. Considers that E-Justice should
simplify citizensŐ access to legal assistance, shorten judicial procedures and
improve the efficiency of the judicial process, and therefore calls on
the future multilingual e-Justice portal to incorporate access to legal
databases, electronic judicial and non-judicial remedies, intelligent systems
designed to help citizens find out how to deal with legal problems, and
comprehensive registers, directories of legal professionals and plain guides to
the legal system of each Member State;
138. Considers
that the portal should also be designed for use as a tool by judges, court
officials, officials of the national Ministries of Justice and practising
lawyers, all of whom would be entitled to secure access to the relevant part of
the portal; calls on this part of the portal to permit secure communication,
video-conferencing and document exchange between courts and between courts and
parties to proceedings (dematerialisation of proceedings), to enable
verification of electronic signatures and make provision for appropriate
verification systems, and to afford a means of exchanging information;
139. Stresses the need for
European legislation in the area of judicial cooperation to be of the highest
possible quality and based on properly conducted impact assessments, in order
to provide citizens and business with effective instruments; deplores the fact
that, in the past, proper impact assessments were not conducted in this area;
notes a recent improvement and undertakes to subject one Commission impact
assessment to critical analysis in the coming period;
140. Strongly believes that, in
order to guarantee a minimum level of independent
scrutiny in the drafting of impact assessments, an independent panel of experts
should be set up to monitor, by means of spot checks, the quality of opinions
delivered by the Impact Assessment Board, and that representatives of
interested parties should also be allowed to assist in conducting them;
Urgent matters
141. Calls
on the Commission to propose forthwith a consolidation of the 1 200 divers
measures adopted in the AFSJ since 1993 in order to bring coherence in this
policy area, whilst taking account of the UnionŐs new missions and roles as
well as of the new legal framework offered by the Treaty of Lisbon, starting
with areas considered as priorities in agreement with the European Parliament;
reminds the Commission that Parliament will assess its commitments on this
during the forthcoming Commissioner hearings;
142. Is
of the opinion that, in cases where a legislative
procedure has started under the provisions of the Treaty of Nice providing for
mere consultation of Parliament, as is the case in many areas of the AFSJ, and
that ParliamentŐs opinion has been delivered, the legislative procedure should
recommence under the Treaty of Lisbon at first reading in order to give
Parliament the opportunity to express its views in awareness of its
prerogatives;
143. Reserves the right
to come back with specific proposals when it is consulted on the legislative
action programme;
144. Calls
for a mid-term review and evaluation of the Stockholm programme by early 2012;
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