ReageraMera

"Why Europe needs a forceful Stockholm Programme".

Speech at College of Europe, Bruges/Brügge, March 4. 2009.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Stop. For a minute. Think about what your life was like 15 years ago. In 1994.

Since then a lot has changed. In the European Union. In the member states.

And changes have a tendency to continuously come in higher speed.

We have no answer on what life will be like 15 years ahead. But we can be sure change will come. Some in forms we can foresee. Some unexpected.

Communication and globalization brings huge benefit to the society as a whole. But increased movements and new technologies also creates problems and opportunities for criminals. The coming multi-annual programme will have to focus on and tackle new challenges.

The Stockholm programme should respond to the main concerns of citizens in the Member States and formulate convincing solutions and directions to the challenges ahead. Our cooperation within the EU should - and should be perceived to act - where actions could lead to added value for citizens everyday life. In my opinion, our policy and our actions shall answer questions asked by our citizens. Not questions nobody asked for. EU should add values to life which cannot be created in the single Member State.

The last years of activity in the area have of many reasons been focused on repressive instruments. Therefore we can see an increased need to balance these measures with initiatives securing the rule of law and the rights of the individual. Individual rights in criminal proceedings, rules on international protection and rules of data protection are issues to work with.

Yesterday, I listened to an interesting report on efficiency in the Swedish Police Force. The rapporteur underlined that ambitious leadership have to see beyond next budget or election. Important development needs time to be implemented. I think that is true.

The new programme needs to be ambitious and visionary. We have to look forward even beyond 2014. Sometimes that idea of having a vision is misunderstood. One thinks it means to be unclear and vague. That's not my idea. In order to give ourselves directions in our work we have to find the right balance between vision and pragmatism.

There is a true potential for the work in the Justice and Home Affairs area to ensure that citizens have reliance on decisions and implemented measures of EU institutions. In order to get or obtain citizens trust in the EU institutions, there is a need to give increased attention to the citizen perspective. That is true when problems are posed as well as in the decision-making process. Transparency is a crucial prerequisite in attaining citizen confidence. We need to give a clear political signal that, in all our work, and especially when dealing with questions essentially touching on their fundamental rights, we have nothing to hide. We are to be trusted.

Trust is also of vital importance for an efficient cooperation between authorities and services in the different Member States. The principle of mutual recognition is dependent on reliance on each others legal and administrative systems. Thus ensuring trust and finding new ways to increase reliance and mutual understanding between different systems in the Member States Home Affairs external relations will be one of the main challenges for the future.

The existing legislation has been developed step by step. It has become increasingly difficult to manage with overlapping and lack of coherence in some cases. However, legislative acts should be concise in their contents and as consistent as possible. As a consequence, there is a need to strengthen better regulation and lawmaking principles through special mechanisms throughout the entire decision making process. Instruments with similar content should, where possible, be consolidated, aiming at a conceptual and legal coherence.

The language used in some legal acts is not always clear. To be frank, it sometimes is more or less impossible to understand. Efforts should be made so that future legislation is drafted in a clear and comprehensive language. This would lead to better understanding within institutions and among citizens. It would increase efficiency and save taxpayers money.

Any programme setting out aims and concrete measures for the future needs to take into account of what has been and are achieved. Visions, projections, knowledge - there is a need for the EU to develop its capacity to evaluate, to research and to develop tools in the Justice and Home Affairs area. Actually, we should not take one single decision without a clear idea on how to control and evaluate its effects.

As to the concrete content of the programme I would like to underline the importance of an efficient exchange of information. This is a horizontal issue of importance to most of the Justice and Home Affairs cooperation.

Exchange of information between law enforcement authorities is a prerequisite to successfully prevent, detect and investigate crimes. The right information must be available in the right place at the right time.

There has, however, in recent years been a proliferation of data sharing initiatives at EU level across the law enforcement, judicial and immigration work areas. There is need to ensure that the information, and data we hold is shared in a secure environment and used for specific purposes.

Now - is an opportune moment to go beyond the limited perspective of a case by case approach. Our aim should be a holistic objective in law enforcement information management, comprising data security, data protection and law enforcement needs. In order to consolidate our joint efforts there is distinct need to work out an "EU master plan on information exchange between law enforcement authorities".

Practical everyday cooperation on the EU decision making level must be developed to balance strategic business needs with political and legal demands. By taking advantage of using modern technologies we can do improvements.

Moreover, the sharp division in the Justice and Home Affairs area between police and judicial cooperation creates unnecessary obstacles in the fight against crimes with cross-border implications. The negative consequences that could arise because of this is in many Member States "artificial" and should be avoided. In order to increase efficiency in the fight against crime, there is a need for a more comprehensive approach which includes all stages from the police investigation to the enforcement of the judgement. it is important to keep the functioning of all the stages in mind when deciding on new legislation.

In  the beginning of my speech I mentioned the need to balance repressive measures with measures securing the rule of law and the rights of the individual. Important proposals in this regard include Common minimum rules on procedural rights in criminal proceedings. Common rules should aim at securing fundamental procedural rights such as the right to translation and interpretation, the right to defense and the right to information. However, past negotiations have shown that there is a need to deal with the issue with a long-term perspective and with a step by step approach. In my belief, there is no point ignoring the formal obstacles we have in this issue,. Instead of focusing on legal structure I propose focus on the core ambition to increase security and individual basic rights.

Civil law and civil law cooperation is of fundamental importance to EU-citizens daily life. If civil law related problems arise in connection with the movements across borders it creates obstacles to the free movement. Borders within the EU shall not constitute obstacles to recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil matters.

Saying that, we all know that civil law in some matters, especially family law, touches upon sensitive issues that are strongly influenced by national legal orders and constitute the core of Member States national identity.

The area of civil protection has been strengthened substantially during the past years. A challenge in the future is therefore to adapt EU action with action in Member States as well as finding ways to make better use of all competences available in the EU structures.

Finally,

a few words about the external relations. During the last five year period, the external dimension has developed significantly, both thematically and geographically. Awareness of how internal and external policies are linked has increased and has intensified the activities within the external dimension of Justice and Home Affairs. The EU should continue to strengthen its role as a global actor to fully safeguard the benefits of its development. Actions need to be more coordinated and efficient than before. This is a great opportunity for the EU to set the international agenda and of course a big challenge.

Thank you for your attention!