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EU: To COSI or not to COSI, that is the question: "Any reference to COSI should be avoided"

01 January 2006

At the beginning of 2005 concern was expressed over the proposed role of a Standing Committee on Internal Security (acronym, COSI) under the EU Constitution (Statewatch vol 15 no 1). By the summer of 2005 there were moves within the Council of the European Union (the 25 governments) - despite the referendums in France and the Netherlands putting the Constitution on ice - to resurrect COSI (see Statewatch vol 15 no 3/4). The then incoming EU Presidency, the UK, proposed in July 2005 that COSI should set the "priorities for operational cooperation".

After the first meeting of the "interim COSI" in May 2005 there was a long silence until a "Meeting on Coordination of Operational Cooperation" was called by the current Austrian EU Council Presidency on 10 February 2006. The legal basis for the meeting was not the EU Constitution but point 2.5 in the Hague Programme (adopted 5 November 2004). The Outcomes (Minutes) of the 10 February meeting note that at the Informal Meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 12-14 January 2006 it had been decided that:

no new structures should be created but that existing ones should be strengthened or even made more efficient. Any reference to COSI should be avoided (emphasis added)

The meeting was attended by Europol, Eurojust, the Police Chiefs Task Force, SitCen (Joint Situation Centre), the Council's counter-terrorism co-ordinator and the European Border Agency - a membership reminiscent of the interim COSI meeting (EU doc no: 6290/06). The Police Chiefs Task Force and SitCen have no legal basis for their existence.

Each of the "actors" reported on their work. The Director of SitCen said that 18 of 50 forthcoming threat assessments would deal with terrorism; the Commission representative said their priorities were: the principle of availability, the future of Europol and the architecture of internal security; and the Council Presidency's included "information exchange between the various bodies as a key theme (availability)".

One document before the meeting concerned; "The Architecture of Internal Security" prepared and presented by the Council Secretariat - that is, the full-time officials working on justice and home affairs for the Council (EU do no: 7039/06). This presents very general objectives for: threat assessment, priorities, implementation and evaluation to be effected by: "the Presidency, in close cooperation with the Council Secretariat, the European Commission and supported by the various agencies". The options for who should be setting priorities presented are: a) a "meeting of the Police Chiefs" - a new fora of dubious status (see Statewatch vol 15 no 6) or at Article 36 Committee meetings (high-level officials from Home/Interior Ministries). A subsequent letter from the Commission to the Council said that it favoured the first option. The future of "COSI" (or not "COSI") remains unclear, though the concept of "internal security" now permeates Council thinking.

The February meeting also had a detailed report, from the General Secretariat of the Council on drug trafficking in and from Afghanistan, Western Balkans, Northern Africa (migratory movements). There was a lengthy discussion on the "Western Balkans" which included the following conclusions: Kosovo: a "strong international presence should be maintained for the next five years"; "corruption is the main problem in the police of Kosovo" and "the Balkan is [sic] full of weapons" (SitCen).

The European Commission stressed the importance of "closely interlinked" activities between Europol and SECI. Europol supported the idea of a "Police Chiefs Task Force for the Balkans" and an "appropriate legal base for SECI" would enhance cooperation with them.

What is SECI?

SECI is the Southeast European Co-operative Initiative, launched in December 1996, on the basis of the "Points of Common EU-US Understanding" to develop a viable economic strategy from the region. The SECI Regiona