EU Justice and Home Affairs Continue Cooperation

On December 19, 2002, at the 247th meeting of the European Council?s Justice and Home Affairs a number of decisions were announced and items debated. This article summarizes some of them. Following a report on negotiations with the U.S., the Council instructed its relevant bodies to continue the examination of the draft Agreement with a view to reaching an agreement at one of its forthcoming sessions. The EU-US agreement will supplement the various bilateral agreements between the U.S. and EU members on mutual assistance and extradition. Some of the subjects in the proposed agreement will include the new forms of legal assistance that modern technology has facilitated, such as exchange of information on bank accounts and video conferencing. The Council, subject to a number of parliamentary scrutiny reservations, arrived at a general approach on the Framework Decision on combating corruption in the private sector. The Decision aims to ensure that both active responsible for such crimes, and the crimes incur effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties. The Decision seeks to ensure that all EU members ratify the 1997 EU Convention on corruption and the 1999 Council of Europe Convention on corruption.