European Community Ministers of the Interior (Hansard, 1 July 1976)

§ Mr. Roy Jenkins

At its meeting in Rome at the beginning of December 1975, the European Council adopted a proposal by my right hon. Friend the Member for Huyton (Sir H. Wilson) that Community Ministers of the Interior, or Ministers with similar responsibilities, should meet to discuss the possibilities of co-operation between the nine member States of the Community on matters arising in the field of their responsibilities.

The first of these meetings was held in Luxembourg on 29th June, where I represented Her Majesty's Government. We had a useful meeting, in which we established a clear political determination to improve co-operation in the fight against international crime and in particular against terrorism, and also agreed upon the advantages of closer co-operation and more exchange of information among the nine member States on such matters as technical support for the police and police training. We approved a programme of work to be undertaken in the coming months.

Following is the English translation of the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting: On the basis of the decision taken by the European Council at its meeting in Rome on 1 and 2 December 1975, Ministers of the Interior, and Ministers of Justice having similar responsibilities, of the member states of the European Community met for the first time in Luxembourg on 29 June 1976 to discuss matters arising in the field of their responsibilities, in particular with regard to law and order The Ministers affirmed their common will to strengthen their co-operation in the fight against organised international crime, and in particular terrorism. Ministers furthermore stressed the need to develop practical and effective measures to cope with problems which transcent national boundaries. In particular they agreed that new out breaks of crime organised on an international level—particularly terrorism—call for a coordinated international response. To this end, Ministers agreed on the need to intensify and render more systematic the co-operation which already exists between the competent authorities in Member States. Ministers affirmed that closer consultation and co-operation at a Community level should take into account collaboration already existing between the competent authorities or work taking place in other international bodies. At the end of the meeting, the Ministers agreed on the following programme:

(1) They agreed that there should be an exchange of information between member 247 states about past terrorist activities. Co-operation in this field will enable member states to develop their techniques for handling future incidents by drawing on experience gained in other countries.
(2) They agreed that in specific cases of terrorism they would organise mutual aid and co-operation between the states concerned.
(3) They agreed that there should be exchanges of technical information and experience in police work and research, particularly in the fields of police technology and equipment. Ministers therefore invited the experts to meet to exchange information and consider the scope for co-operation in the technical field.
(4) They agreed that it would be useful to promote exchanges of police personnel among member states to ensure greater familiarity with the organisations and working methods of police forces in different countries. Ministers also agreed that there should be a greater exchange of information on police training.
(5) They agreed on the desirability of close co-operation in other areas affecting general security, in particular in the fields of aviation security, nuclear safety and natural or accidental disasters, particularly fires.
(6) They instructed their officials to work out detailed arrangements to give effect to their decisions and to establish appropriate expert working groups to that end.