The European Commission adopted the second annual report on the implementation of the Hague Programme on achievements in Justice, Freedom and Security policies. The findings support the need for the Intergovernmental conference to end the uncertainty over the European Union’s Treaty reform. The report (‘The Scoreboard’) covers 2006 and the overall assessment is mixed. Progress was not consistent in all policy areas and transposition of instruments by Member States is not satisfactory.
Vice-President Frattini, Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security, stated “Almost one in five of all major Commission initiatives concern Justice, Freedom and Security. We have made progress which helps citizens lead their daily lives in safety, protected from crime and with protected rights but too often work is blocked or delayed due to the decision making process used for police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. I am therefore glad that EU Leaders agreed qualified majority voting – and the co-decision procedure – should apply to most Justice, Freedom and Security areas. This ends the artificial divide between different parts of EU work. These changes mean
Progress was recorded in ‘First Pillar’ areas such as fundamental rights, citizenship, civil justice the European strategy on drugs, asylum and migration, visa and border policies, as well as in the fight against global terrorism. But Justice, Freedom and Security policy is currently divided and there were delays in the areas covered by the ‘Third Pillar’ (police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters). Here recurrent difficulties and blockages held back progress.
The Scoreboard highlights that implementation at national level of previously agreed initiatives leaves a lot to be desired. A number of Member States fail to comply with the deadline to transpose legal instruments into national legislation, or have delays in transposition (one or more years). For example, despite being agreed by all Member States, at least nineteen Member States failed to transpose the 2004 Directive on free movement of EU citizens and their family members within the deadline. With regards to tackling crime, a high number of Member States have not communicated what they have done to transpose agreements on, for example, money laundering, proceeds from crime, or trafficking in human beings.
Achievements during 2006 were lower than in 2005. In 2005 just over 65% of measures for the period were achieved. For 2006 this figure is 53%. The lower rate of achievement is mainly due to slower progress in the area of police cooperation, prevention of organised crime and judicial cooperation in criminal matters [all Third Pillar areas]. Difficulties in agreeing minimum EU standards on criminal law (for example, no consensus was reached on the Framework Decision on harmonised minimum procedural rights) slow down progress and make the mutual recognition principle more difficult. The findings confirm concerns already observed and support the conclusions of the 2006 Commission’s report on achievements for 2005.
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