28 May Justice and Home Affairs Council

Date: 03/06/1999

THE problem of how to deal with the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the war-torn province of Kosovo again overshadowed a meeting of justice and home affairs ministers. As in April, EU governments agreed that the best solution was to provide protection for displaced persons in neighbouring countries rather than organise a mass airlift to member states. However, under pressure from the Dutch government and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, ministers laid down a number of common standards to apply to the reception of the Kosovars. Amongst these should be the availability of public education and medical services, adequate accommodation, and access to the labour market. Ministers agreed to meet again if the needs of the regions turned out to exceed the resources made available by the EU and its member states.

A FIRST discussion on a European Commission policy paper on common standards for asylum procedures was held by the Council. The document sets out two scenarios for the future: either member states should agree to binding, basic principles but would remain free to decide for themselves how to implement them, or they would follow a stricter approach requiring greater harmonisation of asylum policy. Most countries opted for the more flexible approach, although several warned that this must not lead to the adoption of standards based on the lowest common denominator

THE incoming Finnish presidency of the EU reported on preparations for the special summit on justice and home affairs issues in Tampere in October. Although an agenda has yet to be agreed, Finnish ministers stressed that it should be ambitious and focus on questions of a high political priority such as asylum and immigration, the fight against organised crime and cooperation on legal matters.

ONE of the issues due to be discussed at Tampere is the future of the judicial system in the Union. Ministers held an open debate on reform of the European Court of Justice in the presence of its President Rodriguez Iglesias. A discussion paper drawn up by the Court called for major changes in the institution's working practices and greater resources, in order to cope with future EU enlargement and an increasing workload. German Justice Minister Herta Dauble-Gmelin agreed that the Court urgently needed extra funds to sort out its translation problems but said that more far-reaching reforms would have to await the outcome of a report by a committee of experts later in the year.

MINISTERS made little progress towards solving the outstanding problems which some member states have with the draft convention on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Once again, the main sticking point proved to be the bugging of mobile telephones and satellite networks by crime-fighting authorities. Italy refuses to accept the interception of telecommunications systems based on its territory.