Patrolling the expanding borders

Date: 25/09/1997

By Simon Coss

CONVINCING the 15 existing EU member states that enlargement to the East will not signal a rise in illegal immigration and drug-related crime will be an uphill struggle for the countries bidding for EU membership.

The Union's so-called 'third pillar' is arguably its most complex, sensitive and convoluted law-making structure. Created under the Maastricht Treaty, it brings together Europe's interior and justice ministers - traditionally the least 'European' and most nationalistic of all politicians - to draw up agreements on issues such as drugs policy, illegal immigration and terrorism.

Laws are made through intergovernmental agreements, with member states tending to favour the use of conventions (which have to be ratified by all 15 national parliaments before coming into force) when drafting any sort of substantial and binding legislation.

Third pillar negotiations often bring up underlying feelings of mistrust between existing member states over each other's ability to tackle cross-border crime, fight drugs or prevent clandestine immigration.

For the applicant states, many of which have in the past been portrayed as havens for organised crime gangs and jumping-off points for illegal immigration rings, persuading sceptical ministers that they can be trusted to protect EU frontiers and take on the criminals will therefore be far from easy.

The work to ensure that the hopefuls can match up to the Union's exacting justice and home affairs rules is being coordinated under the European Commission-backed Phare programme.

Earlier this year, Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Anita Gradin outlined the size of the task ahead. “There will have to be comprehensive work on legislation in several areas. This is by no means a light task. It will involve building up something completely new, starting from scratch in some cases,” she told the European Parliament's civil liberties committee.

Most of the applicants still need to accede to the main international conventions which regulate cooperation on refugees, for example. Changes are also needed to ensure that judicial systems inherited from the former Communist era are reformed to become truly independent.

Initiatives are already being taken in other areas. In their recent report to justice and home affairs ministers, a specially appointed group of experts recommended that the EU and the applicants draw up a 'pre-accession pact' on how best to tackle organised crime.

To pursue the fight against drugs, the European Monitoring Centre For Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is currently busy building contacts with similar organisations in central and eastern Europe.

Gradin has also made particular reference to the fact that after enlargement, the new member states will essentially be responsible for guarding the Union's eastern border .

“They must be able to take responsibility for controlling the EU's external frontiers. By this I do not, of course, mean closing their frontiers, but erecting frontiers which work. There needs to be the institutional capacity to ensure that trade and travel can go unimpeded while the smuggling of human beings and of drugs and other illegal goods can be detected effectively,” she said.

As in other areas of the EU's acquis communautaire (the body of Union law), one of the applicant countries' key tasks will be to ensure that legislation passed in national parliaments is implemented on the ground.

“The countries will have to set up authorities capable of putting the laws into practical effect. This is vitally important. Only by building up an efficient administration can citizens' rights and interests be protected,” said Gradin.