Row over secrecy holds up Europol’s work

Date: 22/10/1998

By Simon Coss

A FRANCO-German dispute over secrecy is just one of a number of problems preventing the Europol police agency from functioning at full capacity.

The disagreement means that more than one month after the convention setting up the agency entered into force, Europol is still having to operate on reduced power.

The argument centres on the precise role of a committee which will handle complaints from European citizens about Europol's activities. Bonn wants all the group's meetings to be open to the general public unless there is a specific reason for holding a closed-doors session while the French insist that, as a rule, hearings should be held in secret.

The issue was due to be discussed by EU ambassadors at a meeting earlier this week, but was taken off the agenda when it became clear that the two sides were still too far apart to make agreement likely.

Europol is still on the agenda for an informal meeting of justice and home affairs ministers which begins next Thursday (29 October), but they too are unlikely to make any progress.

Bonn and Paris are now trying to resolve the deadlock in bilateral talks brokered by the Austrian presidency, but there are no signs yet that either is prepared to back down. "France and Germany have both said there is no room for manoeuvre at the moment," said one diplomat.

The Germans argue that the committee's dealings should be open to public scrutiny as it is the only body EU citizens will be able to complain to if they are unhappy about the way Europol is working. "Germany feels that we have to take account of the fact that this body is acting like some kind of a court and normal court proceedings are open to the public," explained a diplomat.

But France says that Europol's principal role as a central database for information on criminal suspects could be undermined. "If anyone can access documents, no policeman would give information to Europol," said one French expert. "There should be some kind of balance between the protection of data and personal rights."

Until this issue is resolved, EU governments cannot approve the creation of the joint supervisory body which will supervise Europol's work. Franco-German arguments are not the only factor preventing Europol from functioning at full capacity. Five EU governments (Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal) have yet to ratify a deal to grant diplomatic immunity to the agency's staff and are unlikely to complete this before February.