§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 6 July 1998,Official Report, column 347, which of the initiatives listed were (a) initiated during the United Kingdom presidency and (b) in progress at the commencement of the United Kingdom presidency. [49993]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe new initiatives launched under the United Kingdom Presidency were:
- proposals and agreement on the key elements of a new European Union drugs strategy for 2000–04;
- the first two large-scale Customs joint surveillance exercises involving the 15 member states and the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe;
- introduction and completion of a joint action on good practice in mutual legal assistance;
- introduction of a joint action on the identification, tracing, freezing, seizing and confiscation of assets; and
- agreement to a common European Union standard for the exchange of fingerprint information.
The other activities listed in my earlier answer were taking forward important work, initiated by the United Kingdom and other member states, but not completed during previous Presidencies.