At today’s meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg chaired by Dr Lovro Šturm, the EU Ministers of Justice reached consensus on the text of the proposal to amend the 2002 Council Framework Decision on combating terrorism. The proposal will introduce new criminal offences into EU law: public incitement to commit terrorist acts, recruiting for terrorism and training for terrorism. This will make the fight against global terrorism within the area of freedom, security and justice more efficient.
This proposal also entails harmonisation with the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism at EU level. “I am certain that the proposal introduces an appropriate balance between the criminalisation of these acts and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms,” stressed Dr Lovro Šturm, the President of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, in the discussion. In addition, this framework decision will enable Europol and Eurojust to conduct investigations more efficiently.
The Council President, Dr Šturm, also presented to the Ministers the Slovenian Presidency’s draft report on the key aspects of the Common Frame of Reference. The Ministers approved the report and confirmed it as the Council position on the essential aspects of the future Common Frame of Reference.
The Common Framework of Reference is one of the priorities set in the Hague Programme of 2004. The objective of the Common Framework of Reference is to improve the consistency of European contract law and achieve better lawmaking. The current year is an important one for the project, with the network of researchers presenting an academic draft of the Common Frame of Reference early this year.
The Council position adopted today concerns the purpose, contents, scope and legal effect of the future Common Frame of Reference. The position does not specify in advance the work and discussions in the Council concerning the Common Frame of Reference, but lays down initial and therefore important guidelines for future work on the project.
The Ministers made progress as regards the proposed Decision on the strengthening of Eurojust. Consensus was reached regarding the package of Articles determining the structure of Eurojust, competences of national members, provisions concerning the rules of procedure of the College and the status of personnel. Work on this proposal will continue at the June session of the Council.
The Ministers furthermore discussed the initiative on the adoption of a Framework Council Decision on the enforcement of decisions rendered in absentia. The objective of the initiative is to strengthen the level of rights in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters in cases when the judgment against a defendant is pronounced in his or her absence. At the same time, the Framework Decision will contribute to the application of the principle of mutual recognition of judgments. The Framework Decision stresses the right to a fair trial and the right to be present at the trial pursuant to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The proposal will enable Europol and Eurojust to conduct investigations more efficiently.
The Ministers had a constructive discussion and the majority supported the text of the proposal. Some Member States still have to examine the effects of the documents on practice and on national legislation. These issues require further work in the weeks leading up to the June Council meeting.
