United Kingdom: Report on the Draft Europol Convention by the House of Lords

On May 1, 1995 the Select Committee on the European Communities of the House of Lords presented their report on Europol. During their enquiry the Select Committee invited various witnesses to give evidence and received written evidence from a number of organizations. The report now published contains the October 1994 Draft Convention on Europol. This is the first time that a draft on this convention is made public officially. The explanatory note of the Home Secretary draws the attention to, what seems to be, a remarkable difference of opinion between two Member States on the legal character of the Joint Action concerning the Europol Drugs Unit. The British Home Secretary stated in his Explanatory Note on Work Carried out under Title VI of the Treaty European Union (published as Appendix 6 of the Report) that the Joint Action does not have the status of a legal binding international instrument. On the other hand in a letter of February 27, 1995 to both Houses of Parliament, the Ministers of Justice and Interior of the Netherlands referred to the Joint Action as a binding instrument...(more)