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EU: Informal JHA Council

01 January 1997

There was an "informal" meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Noordwijk, Netherlands on 5-6 February but, as usual on these occasions, little information was made available and no formal decisions were taken.

Top of the agenda was said to be "organised crime" and how well police forces are cooperating and the agreed "instruments" being used. French Justice Minister Alain Toubon said: "Over the next few years we should progressively reach a common space of free movement for people and goods, but at the same time security should be increased."

There appears to be confirmation of Statewatch's interpretation of the Dublin Council Conclusions in December that Europol's proposed "operational role" will be acting alongside national police forces who will make arrests (see vol 6 no 6). This would leave Europol free from charging suspects but leading on setting up operations and surveillance preparatory to arrest. Whether Europol officers acting in this role would appear in court or be subject to any complaints procedure remains to be seen.

P8 link

Among the more surprising conclusions was a direct reference to the 40 recommendations of the P8 group (the G8 group of countries meeting on political rather than economic questions). agreed at the Lyon summit in June 1996, should be followed by the EU's working party on organised crime (see Statewatch, vol 6 nos 1 & 5; "G7/8 terrorism summit"; the full-text is now on Statewatch's web database).

The meeting also considered the current proposals in the IGC discussions on the future of the "third pillar" including the entry into force of Conventions before they have been ratified by all member states (see IGC feature in this issue).

On the agenda too was the "repatriation of civil war refugees to Bosnia Herzegovina" many of whom did not want to return thus making "involuntary" repatriation on a large-scale a distinct possibility.

Report on the Informal meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers on 5-6 February 1997, German Federal Interior Ministry, 27.2.97.