Statewatch News Online: Summary - comparing Prum Treaty to draft Council Decision

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Detailed comments on the entire text of the Draft Council Decision on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime as compared to the Treaty of Prum


The first part of Art 1(1) is basically the same, with words added limiting cooperation to law enforcement authorities. The remainder of Art 1(1) is different; the Treaty refers to the process of integrating the text into the EU legal order, while the draft Decision simply summarizes the text of the Decision. The draft Decision also adds provisions concerning the relationship with other measures (Arts 1(2) and (3)), which are not found in the Treaty.

Art 2 is the same, except Art 2(3) requires information to be given to the Council Secretariat 6 months after the entry into force of the Decision, rather than by a declaration upon ratification of the Treaty.

Arts 3-5, 7-10 and 13-16 are the same.

Arts. 6(2), 11(2) and 12(2) refer to implementing provisions attached to the Decision, rather than implementing arrangements to be adopted by the parties. Otherwise Arts 6, 11 and 12 are the same.

Arts 17-23 of the Treaty are deleted.

Arts. 17(4), 11(2) and 12(2) of the Decision refer to implementing provisions attached to the Decision, rather than implementing arrangements to be adopted by the parties. Otherwise Art 17 of the Decision is the same as Art 24 of the Treaty.

Art 18 of the Decision is the same as Art 25 of the Treaty.

Art 19 of the Decision is the same as Art 26 of the Treaty, except that the references to disasters and accidents have been removed. This may be because civil protection falls within the scope of the first pillar.

Art 27 of the Treaty appears in the separate proposal.

Art 20 of the Decision is the same as Art 28 of the Treaty, except that there is a reference to a national declaration instead of Annex II of the Treaty in para 2; the power to amend Annex 2 (as set out in Art 28(3) of the Treaty) has been dropped; Art 20(4) refers to implementing provisions, not implementing arrangements (compare to Art 28(5) of the Treaty); and the cross-reference to Art. 18 of the Treaty in Art. 28(6) of the Treaty has been dropped (because Art. 18 has been dropped).

Arts 21-24 of the Decision are the same as Arts 29-32 of the Treaty, except that the cross-ref to Arts. 17 and 18 of the Treaty in Art. 30 of the Treaty (Art 22 of the Decision) has been dropped, because Arts. 17 and 18 have been dropped.

Arts 25-33 of the Decision are the same as Arts. 33-41 of the Treaty (data protection); except that: art 26(2) refers to a decision by the Council, not the Contracting parties, and a new Art 26(3) allows any data exchange pre-existing under the Treaty of Prum to continue; and Art. 30(2) of the Decision refers to an implementing measure, not to implementing arrangements (Art. 38(2) of the Treaty).

Art 34 of the Decision is the same as Art 42 of the Treaty, with the deletion of references to data to be submitted pursuant to Arts 17-23 of the Treaty, which have been deleted; the addition of a new para 2 with further information to be transmitted; and a different procedural rule (notification to the Council six months after adoption, rather than a declaration upon ratification).

There are no provisions to parallel Arts 43-45 of the Treaty (the Committee of Ministers, implementing arrangements and territorial application), even though the Decision contains many references to implementing arrangements.

Art 35 of the Decision is the same as Art 46 of the Treaty (costs).

Art 36 of the Decision has the same subject-matter, but different content from, Art. 47 of the Treaty (relationship with other measures). Art. 47(1) of the Treaty governed the relationship between the Treaty and EU law, and Art. 47(2) governs the relationship between the Traety and bilateral treaties. Art. 36 of the Decision governs only the relationship between the Decision and treaties between the Member States, and is worded differently from Art. 47(2) of the Treaty.

Arts 37 and 38 of the Decision have different rules on implementation and entry into force, as opposed to Arts. 48-52 of the Treaty.

Basically the substance of the Decision is the same as the Treaty, with the first pillar provisions taken out and one third pillar clause taken out and made the subject of a separate proposal because it is deemed to be Schengen-related.
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