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Europe - in brief (9)

01 May 1999

Basque Country: A year's truce in ETA's activities: At the end of June, a year passed since ETA declared an indefinite unilateral ceasefire. The decision, which transformed the Basque and Spanish political landscape, was preceded by the signing of the Lizarra Agreement between different Basque groups, in which proposals for a democratic solution to the conflict were proposed. The government has not responded to ETA's truce. Parliament has asked the government to change its prison policies, but no transfers of Basque political prisons in Euskadi have taken place.

UK and Schengen: On 20 July the European Commission adopted a "favourable opinion" on the UK's request to join parts of the Schengen acquis - police cooperation, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, drugs and (parts of) the Schengen Information System. Under the Amsterdam Treaty the Commission had to be consulted. The Schengen acquis is now incorporated into Title IV of the Treaty establishing the European Communities (TEC) and Title VI of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The reaction of the 13 EU member states who are, or will soon be, participating in all aspects of the Schengen acquis - including free movement and external border controls - and who have to unanimously agree to the UK's "pick and mix" application is by no means as certain. Commission press release, 20.7.99; see Statewatch, vol 9 no 2.