A3-0215/93

Resolution on cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs under the Treaty on European Union (Title VI and other provisions)

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Treaty on European Union signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht and having particular regard to Article 100c, inserted in the EC Treaty, and Title VI,

-having regard to the proposals submitted by the European Parliament previous to and in preparation for the intergovernmental conferences on the Union,

-having regard to its resolution of 7 April 1992 on the results of the intergovernmental conferences,

-having regard to the letter of 26 February 1992 from the chairman of its Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs to his counterpart in the Committee on Institutional Affairs,

-having regard to the reports drawn up on Title VI by certain national parliaments and in particular the report drawn up for the Belgian Chamber of Deputies,

-having regard to the matters discussed during the hearing held by its Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs together with representatives of the national parliaments of eleven EC Member States on 18 and 19 March 1993,

-having regard to its resolutions of 18 November 1992 on European immigration policy, 18 November 1992 on the harmonization within the European Community of asylum law and policies, 19 November 1992 on the entry into force of the Schengen Agreements, 22 January 1993 on the setting up of Europol, and 21 April 1993 on racism, xenophobia and the danger of right-wing extremist violence,

-having regard to Rule 121 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Institutional Affairs (A3-0215/93),

A.whereas, in conflict with the position consistently adopted by the European Parliament, cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs has largely remained an intergovernmental matter in the Treaty on European Union, with all the disadvantages this implies for the legal protection of individuals and democratic supervision by the national parliaments and the European Parliament,

B.whereas the European Parliament has always firmly believed - and reiterates this belief in this resolution - that matters related to the administration of justice and home affairs should be considered Community matters and be dealt with in the framework of the Union with general criteria transcending those of intergovernmental cooperation,

C.whereas cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs is now at least to be carried out in a single institutional framework, that of the European Union (Article C), and is to be put into effect mainly via bodies and structures of the European Community itself, which can be regarded as a step in the right direction compared with the existing situation, although it does not dispel the democratic deficit in this area,

D.whereas the rules for this cooperation agreed to in Maastricht must be considered provisional as, under the Treaty on European Union, a new intergovernmental conference will be held in 1996 with new institutional reforms as one of its aims,

E.whereas none of the European Community's institutions can invoke the Treaty on European Union to back out of the obligations and powers which the Community already has with regard to freedom of movement of persons under Article 8a of the EEC Treaty, with regard to related 'compensatory' measures, and with regard to asylum policy, refugee policy, visa policy and deportation policy (Articles 3(c), 7, second paragraph, 100 and 235 EEC),

F.whereas the European Parliament's basic preference for making the Community responsible for the areas set out in Title VI, Article K.1(1)-(9) of the Treaty on European Union does not necessarily exclude pragmatic measures by the Parliament within the context of intergovernmental cooperation; whereas, for this to happen, certain conditions must be met with regard to timely advance information, regular consultation and openness,

1.Regrets the fact that, in Maastricht, cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs was largely kept outside the EC Treaty, resulting in a lack of effective parliamentary and judicial supervision and democratic procedures for decision-making in a field where the rights of the citizen are directly concerned;

2.Attributes this omission partly to the attitude of the Commission which, as long ago as the second half of the eighties, gave in too readily to pressure from a number of Member States that wished to make the decision on measures connected with the principle of freedom of movement for persons, as enshrined in the Single Act, the province of intergovernmental cooperation;

3.Calls on the 1996 intergovernmental conference to correct the omission referred to in paragraph 1 above and to lay down in the EC Treaty the responsibility of the Community for all the areas listed in Article K.1 of the Treaty on European Union;

4.Requests the Council, pending the Treaty amendments referred to in paragraph 3, to make use of the 'bridge' provided in Article K.9 of the Treaty on European Union, thereby making matters concerning judicial policy and internal affairs part of the responsibilities of the European Community; asks the Commission to take the corresponding initiative on a regular basis and refers in this connection to Article 138b of the EC Treaty; therefore deems it absolutely essential to expand the Commission departments responsible for the implementation and follow-up of Title VI; regrets that Article K.9 specifically excludes making Article K.1 (7) to (9), namely judicial cooperation in criminal matters, customs cooperation and police cooperation, a Community responsibility;

5.Distances itself from paragraph 2 of the 'Declaration on Asylum' annexed to the Treaty on European Union in as far as this may aim to limit the application of Article K.9 to asylum policy;

6.Hopes that, once the Treaty on European Union comes into effect, all the present methods and bodies of intergovernmental cooperation between the twelve Member States in the fields of justice and home affairs (working parties, committees, etc.) will develop rapidly in such a way that their business can be carried out in the framework of the Union and in accordance with the legal norms for its creation and regulation;

7.Proposes that the Commission draw up a proposal for the reorganization of intergovernmental initiatives in line with the fields listed under Article K.1 (1) to (9), to avoid overlapping and duplication;

8.Considers parliamentary supervision of decision-making by the Council with regard to justice and home affairs to be a joint responsibility of the national parliaments of the twelve Member States and the European Parliament and urges that the necessary forms of cooperation be created for this purpose, and considers it important in this connection that:

-the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs of the European Parliament should hold an annual conference with its counterpart committees from the parliaments of the twelve Member States on the subject of parliamentary supervision of the application of Title VI of the Treaty on European Union;

-the Conference of the President of the European Parliament and the Presidents of the Parliaments of the Twelve Member States should look into the possibility of setting up a joint secretariat for the above committees in order to ensure the exchange of information and make the annual joint meeting as fruitful as possible;

9.Calls for an interinstitutional agreement on the application of Article K.6 of the Treaty on European Union, i.e. on the way in which, and the frequency with which, firstly, the Presidency of the Council and the Commission should inform the European Parliament of activities in the framework of Title VI and, secondly, the Presidency of the Council should consult Parliament in good time and in advance of the Council's deliberations, making the necessary documents available to Parliament; asks that the recommendations of its Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs in its opinion for the Committee on the Rules of Procedure concerning the amendment of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament should be taken as a basis for this;

10.Calls for the establishment of an interinstitutional agreement between the European Parliament and the Council, to enable a delegation of Members of the European Parliament to take part, as observers, in certain intergovernmental meetings of ministers, and calls for the Rules of Procedure to be amended so as to provide for this procedure;

11.Calls for the involvement of the European Parliament, as provided for in Article K.6, to be laid down in interinstitutional agreements; considers that these agreements should cover the following:

-the Commission and the Presidency shall undertake to render account to Parliament whenever Parliament so requests;

-the Presidency shall explain before Parliament why certain of Parliament's views, as referred to in the second paragraph, have not been taken up and shall indicate which Member States have supported or opposed these views;

-the Presidency shall undertake to place on the agenda of the Council the questions or recommendations from the European Parliament referred to in the third paragraph and to give a comprehensive report to Parliament on the deliberations in the Council;

12.Considers it very important from the point of view of democratic openness with regard to the preparation of policy by officials that the acting president of the Coordinating Committee of senior officials referred to in Article K.4 of the Treaty on European Union should provide the appropriate committee of the European Parliament with regular and timely information about the initiatives, opinions and activities of this Committee as referred to in Article K.4(1);

13.Considers the publication of information to be an element of direct democracy and believes that "measures designed to improve public access to the information available to the institutions" ("Declaration on the Right of Access to Information" adopted by the Intergovernmental Conferences in Maastricht on 7 February 1992) should not be limited to EC institutions, but should also cover information available to the Council and Commission in their capacity as institutions of the Union operating in the fields of justice and home affairs by virtue of Title VI of the Treaty on European Union;

14.Calls, with a view to this, for the formulation of:

-a Community rule to the effect that the EC institutions should be obliged to publicize information and giving at the same time EC citizens a right to information relating to those institutions;

-a public international law agreement between the twelve Member States declaring the abovementioned EC legislation to apply to the institutions, insofar as they act as bodies of the Union within the meaning of Title VI of the Treaty on European Union, and to persons residing in the Member States;

15.Urges that, in the interests of better legal protection, the Court of Justice should be declared to have jurisdiction to rule on the interpretation of Title VI and on the validity and interpretation of the joint positions, action and decisions referred to in Article K.3(2)(a) and (b); calls for a public international law agreement between the twelve Member States declaring Article 177 of the EEC Treaty to be applicable to the actions carried out by the institutions of the Union in the context of Title VI;

16.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission and to the governments of the Member States.