Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-14-Speech-2-211"
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"en.20060314.25.2-211"2
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".
Mr President, I should like to thank our rapporteur for her very thorough work. In fact, this report not only enables us to assess the European Arrest Warrant - the first practical instrument of the European judicial area - but also gives us the opportunity to redefine our priorities as far as the implementation of a genuine European judicial area is concerned.
As we have said, the European Arrest Warrant has been an overwhelming success: 2 600 warrants have been issued throughout the European Union since its creation, with the result that judicial procedures have been considerably speeded up.
Borders are therefore no longer an obstacle to justice. This success shows that the Member States are willing to work together. We are thus strengthening the principle of mutual confidence, which is the cornerstone of the European judicial area. The European Arrest Warrant has nonetheless encountered obstacles put in the way of its application by certain governments, and I regret Italy’s delay in transposing the legislation. This delay meant that the Commission was late in assessing that country.
Furthermore, the Member States interpret the warrant differently in their national laws. This also illustrates the Member States’ lack of political will and the limits imposed by the method of decision making in this area. Nevertheless, the success of the European Arrest Warrant demonstrates that it is impossible to limit ourselves to civil law. We must be more ambitious and extend judicial cooperation to criminal law.
That is why we consider it crucial to have recourse to Article 42 and the ‘passerelle’ in order to permit a minimum harmonisation of European criminal legislation. We will thus be able to put an end to the unanimity rule, which slows down the implementation of a genuine area of freedom, security and justice.
Furthermore, we must bridge the democratic gap, and only the full involvement of the European Parliament in the creation of the European judicial area will enable fundamental rights to be protected. Moreover, how can we succeed in making progress if we limit ourselves to security matters? Let us make progress in police matters, certainly, but we must also set high standards with regard to fundamental rights. Thus, the proposal on procedural guarantees must be addressed at the same time.
To conclude, I have a specific question to ask the Commission and the Council: when will we finally be able to make progress with other practical instruments, such as the exchange of evidence and information between criminal records bureaux?"@en1
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