11-12 February Justice and Home Affairs Informal

Date: 18/02/1999

JUSTICE and interior ministers called for greater coordination of member states' efforts to counter domestic violence, violence against women and trafficking in women. They pledged further cooperation in this area, with particular reference to national laws designed to improve the protection of women who have already been the victim of attacks. The ministers also discussed how diverse national legislation to promote the safety of women in the 15 EU member states could best be harmonised.

MINISTERS agreed on the need to coordinate their participation in the various existing non-governmental projects working to halt the international trafficking of women. German Justice Minister Herta Däubler Gmelin, who chaired the meeting, called for the introduction of effective and practical EU laws to protect “vulnerable” women and children, arguing that this would bring the concept of a 'Europe of the citizens' a step closer to reality. She said that the establishment of common rules governing custody rights over children born to parents now living in different member states would be a feasible first step in this direction. Gmelin took the opportunity to invite members of the Council, together with national ministers with responsibility for women's issues, to discuss the issue further at a pan-European intergovernmental conference on the protection of women which will take place in Cologne on 28-29 March.

THE ministers held a brief exchange of views on EU immigration and asylum policy, but did not reach any firm conclusions. “A decision over the admission of refugees on humanitarian grounds can only be reached in conjunction with a decision on how this humanitarian burden can be shared out between the EU member states,” said German Interior Minister Otto Schily afterwards.

NO FIRM conclusions were reached in a debate on efforts to overcome the remaining obstacles blocking the establishment of Europol, the Union's police information-exchange system. Schily stressed that persuading those governments who have not yet ratified the controversial protocol on privileges and immunities for Europol employees to do so was a priority for Germany's six-month presidency of the EU.

DURING talks on fundamental rights for Union citizens, ministers agreed that benefits would flow from establishing a formal bill of rights at EU level. Schily said that introducing cast- iron legal guarantees for certain fundamental freedoms would provide European citizens with a “concrete illustration” of the advantages of Union integration. It would also clear up uncertainties concerning the legal position of individuals who wanted to challenge decisions taken by the EU institutions.