Ministers to drop cross-border police activities

Interior ministers meeting next month (12 June) are expected to drop a plan to allow police forces to cross into each other’s territory because of sensitivities over Northern Ireland. But special exceptions will be allowed for major events such as sports tournaments and EU summits.

The plan, part of a wider proposal on police co-operation, known as the Treaty of Prüm, is being opposed by the UK and Ireland because communities on either side of the Irish border would oppose police forces from the other side crossing over.

Both states had been expected to negotiate an opt-out on this element, but London and Dublin feared this would also inflame sensitivities in Northern Ireland by calling into question trust in the recently reformed Police Service of Northern Ireland. As a result they urged the rest of the Council of Ministers to drop the plan, which would have allowed police forces to cross into another state to "avert immediate danger to life or limb". But the proposal will allow for joint-operations involving uniformed and plain-clothed police to take place during major events.

Ministers last February had agreed on the provision in the Prüm treaty to exchange DNA, fingerprints and vehicle registration numbers. They dropped a separate element of the treaty which would have allowed armed sky marshals on board planes.

The Treaty of Prüm was signed in 2005 by seven member states outside the EU institutions. Germany announced at the start of its presidency that it wanted to see the treaty become part of EU law and signalled it was willing to trigger the never-before-used mechanism of enhanced co-operation should some states not wish to introduce it. This allows a minimum of eight member states to move forward together on a particular issue.

But since then two major elements of the treaty - police crossing borders and sky marshals - have been dropped. Other states which are in favour of these elements have since joined the Prüm treaty.

Interior ministers meeting next month (12 June) are expected to drop a plan to allow police forces to cross into each other’s territory because of sensitivities over Northern Ireland. But special exceptions will be allowed for major events such as sports tournaments and EU summits.