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EU: NEW - Two draft Council Decisions to transpose parts of the Prum Treaty into EU law

01 January 2007

Draft Council Decision on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime

and

Draft Council Decision on improving cooperation on request

Statewatch Summary of the comparison of the provisions in the Prum Treaty and draft Decision on cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross border crime

These two draft Decisions have been prepared by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (full-time officials) for the meeting of the Article 36 Committee (high-level officials representing the 27 member sates) in Brussels on 25-26 January 2006. They are both based on the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) which means the governments have to agree unanimously but the European Parliament is only "consulted" (ie: its opinion can be ignored).

It is expected that at least two more Council Decisions on "first pillar" (TEC) aspects of the Prum Convention will be proposed by the European Commission - these will be subject to qualified majority voting in the Council and codecision with the European Parliament. That is, one on the introduction of armed "air marshals" on flights in the EU and another on the immigration aspects eg: the joint deportation of asylum-seekers.

Background: The Prum Convention (full-text, pdf) The Prum Convention was adopted by seven member states in May 2005 (Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria). House of Lords report: Behind Closed Doors, Statewatch: Some remarks on Schengen III (the Prum Convention) and - Behind closed doors - policy-making in secret intergovernmental and international fora