§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Justice and Home Affairs Council held on 19 and 20 March. [23240]
501W
§ Mr. HowardI represented the United Kingdom at the Council. The main matters dealt with at the meeting were as follows.
The Council agreed as "A" points, among other things, a recommendation on football hooliganism which followed an initiative proposed by the United Kingdom, and a joint action on the exchange of liaison magistrates between member states of the European Union.
The Council reached political agreement on a joint action on racism and xenophobia. The effect of the new measure will be to strengthen judicial co-operation between the member states in combating racist or xenophobic acts committed within the European Union.
The Council agreed the financial regulation relating to the budget for Europol, and considered briefly the question of whether the European Court of Justice should be given jurisdiction to interpret the Europol convention.
The presidency reported progress in negotiations on the draft external frontiers convention, and concluded that officials should continue work on developing the draft instrument.
The Council considered a draft multi-annual work programme, providing a framework for action in the third pillar, to be taken forward by several presidencies. A further version of the programme will be prepared in the light of discussion, for adoption at the Justice and Home Affairs Council in June.
The Council discussed proposals for areas of activity in the third pillar, which should be funded from the 1996 Community budget, and agreed that the issue should be examined further by officials.
The Council discussed a number of outstanding issues arising from negotiations on the draft convention on simplified extradition procedures. The presidency hoped that a final text of the contention would be ready to be adopted by the Council in June.
The Council noted progress on the draft convention on corruption, and agreed that work on the text should continue with a view to its being submitted for adoption by the Council in June.
The Council agreed that work should proceed on a draft convention on service of judicial documents within the European Union. The purpose of the convention would be to relieve delays in some member states in effecting 502W service of process under the 1965 Hague convention on the service abroad of judicial and extra-judicial documents.
The presidency reported on a recent European Union seminar in Rome on fundamentalist terrorism. The Council reaffirmed its commitment to co-operation between the member states in the fight against terrorism.
The presidency reported to the Council on recent discussions in Oslo between the European Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the repatriation of refugees form the former Yugoslavia, and on a meeting in Rome with Andean pact countries which considered issues relating to illegal trafficking in drugs.
On the second day of the Council, member states' representatives met their counterparts from the central and eastern European states and Cyprus and Malta to continue the pre-accession structure dialogue with those countries on justice and home affairs.