§ 6. Caroline Flint (Don Valley)What plans he has to ensure that applicants to become European Union members meet the required standards in combating organised crime. [R][85569]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Kate Hoey)The United Kingdom is doing its utmost to ensure that the applicant states meet the required standards laid down by the European Commission in the area of justice and home affairs matters. Measures to combat organised crime form a major part of those requirements. United Kingdom law enforcement agencies are playing a major role in providing training and assistance under the European Union twinning programme and other United Kingdom initiatives to help ensure that standards are met.
§ Caroline FlintAs the Minister will be aware, organised crime knows no national boundaries. Will she 6 outline how training and assistance will be applied to ensure that there is proper adherence when countries become members of the European Union?
§ Kate HoeyThe United Kingdom has been selected to lead four twinning projects on organised crime and related policing matters in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Poland and to participate in a fifth in the Czech Republic. That is a recognition of the United Kingdom's law enforcement capabilities and how good our law enforcement is. We will try to encourage EU applicant countries to examine their training and support systems and their accountability and, as my hon. Friend said, to consider the main benefits that will accrue from improving law enforcement agent capabilities through nations joining to fight organised crime effectively as a partnership.
§ Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West)Will the Minister assure the House that the Government will resist extending corpus juris—which is alien to the concept of habeas corpus—to the justice systems either of EU applicant countries, as a condition of membership, or of existing member countries?