Focus on the citizen at ministerial meeting

Publication date: 16 July 2009

On the first day of their meeting in Stockholm, Europe's home affairs ministers discussed issues including how to increase the effectiveness of cooperation between EU countries in the fight against cross-border crime, while at the same time strengthening the rights of the individual.

“The discussions have given the Swedish Presidency good starting points for the upcoming negotiations. There is broad support for future cooperation based on the perspective of the citizen”, said Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask after the meeting.

During the autumn, the ministers will continue negotiations on the Stockholm Programme, a new programme for cooperation in the area of justice and home affairs for the next five years, which includes the fight against crime.

The ministers explained which aspects of Europe's internal security they considered most important to tackle, what should be included in a strategy for information exchange and their view of the appropriate form for cooperation on these issues with countries outside the EU.

“We are agreed that the focus should be more clearly on the citizen. The rights of the individual must be strengthened. We need to take a holistic approach to information exchange. Data protection and integrity issues are key to this work”, said Beatrice Ask.

Ms Ask went on to say: “The point is that we must become better at working to combat organised crime such as human trafficking. If we are to achieve this, police forces in different countries must be able to share information with one another. However, there must be clear rules on what information may be shared, what it may be used for and how long it may be stored. Many people have also emphasised the importance of strengthening trust between the judicial authorities using means such as training.”

Vice-President of the European Commission Jacques Barrot participated in the meeting and agreed with Ms Ask about the importance of training for improved cooperation. “We must offer training, so that we can get to know one another better and in this way share our information better.”

Justice and home affairs became an EU policy area following the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. This cooperation, which will soon have been going on for 16 years, has produced many successes, including greater trust between the Member States' authorities. Coordinated measures have been taken to combat terrorism and organised crime.

But challenges remain.

“Cross-border organised crime, sexual exploitation of children, computer crime, economic crime and drug trafficking are issues of concern for citizens in all Member States. And the foundation for coordinated action to fight serious crime must be well-functioning cooperation and the possibility to exchange information that is required for criminal investigations”, said Beatrice Ask.

She also said that there was a strong awareness among ministers of the need for a clear strategy for cooperation with countries outside the EU as well, and that this had also been raised at the meeting.

Source: Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union