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| From Open Europe Bulletin: 12 - 29 November 2. New German Chancellor: "Europe needs the EU Constitution" 3. UK loses access to US defence technology over cooperation with EU 4. European Evidence WarrantEU home affairs ministers are set to debate the creation of a "European Evidence Warrant" (EEW) at a meeting on 1 and 2 December, as part of the EU's programme of legal harmonisation. The EEW will be used where one EU country's authorities request another's authorities to search premises and seize property. The purpose behind it, to speed up cross border co-operation in obtaining evidence in criminal investigations, is sensible and could be useful in fighting terrorism and drug gangs. But the EU's proposals over-emphasise the need for greater cross border co-operation at the expense of the rights of citizens. Crucially, the proposals could even lead to police officers in the UK being ordered to search a British citizen's home by foreign authorities for doing something which is not even illegal in Britain. Like the European Arrest Warrant, which was passed in 2004, the EEW does not recognise the principle of 'dual criminality'. Put simply, dual criminality is a longstanding principle which ensures that it is impossible for a citizen to be extradited for an act which is not illegal in their home country. Because dual criminality will not apply to cases under the EEW, UK citizens could have their homes searched and possessions seized for matters which are not illegal in the UK. Examples include differing rules on whether journalists can pay sources for information (e.g. German journalist Hans Martin Tillack was arrested for investigating corruption in Brussels, because this is viewed as "corruption" under Belgian law.) The House of Commons' European Scrutiny Committee has said that it is "deeply disturbing that a person's home might be forcibly entered and searched at the request of a foreign authority for the purpose of obtaining evidence to prosecute conduct which was not even criminal in this country. under the EEW a journalist who had written such an article or arranged for such payments here would be at risk of a search of his home and office in this country in support of the foreign criminal proceedings." The Committee also noted that there is no form of redress for UK authorities if they disagree with the use of the EEW in a particular case. The EU has written the law so that the EEW, once issued, has to be "validated". However, it is validated by judges in the issuing country - not in the country where the search and seizure of evidence is to take place. While there is obviously a lot to be gained from information sharing and cooperation between European police forces, these must be carefully balanced against the long held rights of citizens. It is extraordinary that the UK Government is preparing to sign up to a measure which would allow British citizens to have their houses searched for actions not recognised as criminal in this country, and that they would have absolutely no ability to appeal against the measure in their home country. |
5. News in briefUK Government blocking attempts by MPs to scrutinise EU legislation. Over the last year the Government has increasingly come under fire for preventing Westminster MPs from scrutinising EU legislation. Under an agreement dating from 1980, the Government is not supposed to sign up to EU legislation if MPs say that they want to scrutinise it first. But this so-called "scrutiny reserve" system is being undermined - because the Government increasingly chooses to "override" MPs' requests to avoid losing face in EU meetings. In a written answer released this week the Government admitted that it had overridden MPs' requests for scrutiny time 322 times since 2001. The written answer, to Michael Gove MP, also revealed that the Government is heading towards setting a new record for use of the override this year - having used it 53 times in the first six months of 2005 alone. (Hansard, 22 November) Personal information to be shared across the EU. The EU Commission has published proposals that would see confidential information about British citizens shared with governments and police forces across the EU. The proposal calls for the creation of a pan-European fingerprint database, a European DNA database, and registers of all EU citizens and of all EU travel documents, to which law enforcement agencies would be given access. If implemented, it would mean that police forces across Europe could access every UK citizen's fingerprints, which are expected to be recorded for ID cards. (Times, 25 November) EU Commission introduces list of European crimes. The European Commission has unveiled proposals to create a list of seven criminal offences which member states will have to enforce. Because of a recent European Court of Justice ruling, the Commission, rather than member states, has gained the power to propose EU criminal offences. The Times reported that, "The ruling means that for the first time in legal history, a British government and Parliament will no longer have the sovereign right to decide what constitutes a crime and what the punishment should be." The list of proposed EU crimes includes: counterfeiting euro notes and coins; credit card and cheque fraud; money laundering; people-trafficking; computer hacking and virus attacks; corruption in the private sector; and marine pollution. Legal experts have predicted that in the future this list could expand into further areas. (24 November) EU puts pressure on UK to increase VAT: UK Government set to give way? Since 2003 the EU has been pressing member states to put VAT on the few remaining products which are currently exempt from the EU's harmonised 15 percent minimum tax rate. At a meeting of EU finance ministers next month the EU is set to reach an agreement on the issue. The UK is thought to have seen off attempts to apply VAT on children's clothes. But in a move set to anger environmentalists, the Government is said to be considering giving way and applying VAT to energy saving products and insulation, which are currently exempt. EU calls for European merchant ships to carry EU flag. The EU Commission is to propose that British merchant ships should start flying a EU flag at sea rather than the Red Ensign. The Commission argued that if all European merchant ships flew "a European flag" it would help recognition at sea that these vessels meet the strictest European and international safety standards. The Merchant Navy Association Chairman, Captain John Sail, said, "It is terrible that they should try to alter such a symbol of British success." (Express, 25 November)
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EU teaches children Constitution is in force.
The EU Commission has published a new pamphlet for schoolchildren called 'L'Europe,
Mon Foyer' (Europe, My Home), 100,000 copies of which have been distributed
to primary-school children in Belgium. The pamphlet talks about the EU
Constitution as though it has not been rejected: "Thanks to the new
Constitution, the European Union has a Foreign Affairs Minister. He sits in
the Council and the Commission and has a very important function: he drives
the Commission's common foreign and security policy." "With this new
constitution everything will go like clockwork, just like in your club." In
a section on the euro the pamphlet claims that countries are queuing up to
join the euro: "Other Member States want to adopt the euro as quickly as
possible."
The pamphlet can be read online here (in French or Dutch) The return of 'bra wars'? Experts are predicting that last summer's EU dispute over textiles trade with China - dubbed the 'bra wars' - will resurface in the near future. French daily La Tribune reported that 70 percent of next year's EU import quotas for Chinese products have already been used up, raising the possibility of products being impounded again in European ports in 2006. Under pressure from Italy, the EU Commission is also considering placing high new tariffs on shoes from China, India and Vietnam. Business organisations have warned that imposing tariffs could spark off a new 'shoe war'. (17 November) EU to spend billions on new spy satellite network. The EU is to build its own network of spy satellites. The multi-billion-pound system, known as "Global Monitoring for Environment and Security" (GMES), will be up and running by 2010. The Telegraph has reported on a leaked EU Commission memo, which argues that GMES would play a key role in the "implementation, review and monitoring of EU policies", including watching for agriculture and fisheries fraud and boosting "internal security". However, it also said that it would "provide authorities with necessary elements for a European Security and Defence Policy". Gregor Kreuzhuber, the European Commission's spokesman for industry policy, described GMES as "a little brother for Galileo, a sort of satellite system where you can better monitor what is happening on our planet". (15 November)
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6. Open Europe in the newsBonfire of diktats has 'failed to ignite' Telegraph and Daily Mail 29 November and Financial Times 28 November The Telegraph published figures from Open Europe's research on de-regulation: "Mr Brown's promises came as a new study by the independent think-tank Open Europe showed that the EU had been responsible for 77 per cent of the costs of regulation to business since 1998." The Mail noted that the study found "that the quantity of rules produced by Brussels and adopted in this country is rising, not falling." A leader in the Mail said the report showed "the harm Brussels is doing to British enterprise and the powerlessness of Mr Brown or anyone else to prevent it." An article in the FT by former CBI President Sir John Egan noted that despite repeated promises to cut regulation, "Europe's production of new regulations is actually increasing at an alarming rate. Of the 22,000 pieces of legislation on the EU statute book, about 12,000 have been introduced in the eight years since 1997, compared to 10,000 during the forty years from 1957 to 1997." Interview with Rodney Leach Sunday Telegraph 27 November In an interview Open Europe Chairman Rodney Leach explains the thinking behind the new think tank: "The reason we've set up Open Europe is that having won the three very specific battles to stop something bad happening, we now want to fight a much longer war to make something good happen. People have begun to realise that the EU is a bureaucratic oligarchy, not a democracy." Mandelson puts pressure on Blair over rebate Sun 22 November Open Europe director Neil O'Brien was quoted in the Sun accusing Peter Mandelson of scaremongering, following his attempt to get the Government to sign up to a bad deal on the EU budget. Benefits of trade liberalisation Independent 16 November Hamish McRae referred to research by Open Europe which highlights the danger that EU "trade preferences" can hurt poor countries in the long term: "Open Europe, the liberal think-tank, points out that the first round of reductions in EU sugar preferences would have much the same devastating impact on Guyana as Britain losing its entire financial services industry overnight." Trade liberalisation to benefit world's poorest ITN news 14 November (note: large multi-media video-sound file - long download) The ITV news at 10.30pm presented in detail the key findings from Open Europe's report on trade, citing the fact that Britain would be up to 20 billion pounds better off if trade barriers are removed, with the average household of four just under 1500 pounds better off. It also noted our findings that the poorest people in Britain would gain more than the rich from free trade, that developing countries could make even larger gains than rich countries, and that the EU imposes higher applied tariffs on poorer countries than rich.
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The above is based on information published by Open Europe, 7 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QN and used here with their kind permission.
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