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European Commission report confirms need for new EU treaty |
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10:40, July 04, 2007 |
A report of the European Commission on justice, freedom and security policies confirmed the need for a new European Union (EU) treaty as agreed upon by heads of state and government at last month's summit, said the commission on Tuesday.
The report, which assesses member states' achievements in justice, freedom and security policies in 2006, gives mixed results.
Progress was recorded in "first pillar" areas such as fundamental rights, citizenship, civil justice the European strategy on drugs, asylum and migration, visa and border policies,as well as in the fight against global terrorism.
But there were delays in the areas covered by the "third pillar" -- police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
Policies under the first pillar are approved by qualified majority voting while decisions in the third pillar areas are through inter-governmental cooperation.
The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam transferred most of the justice, freedom and security policies to the first pillar, leaving police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the third pillar.
"We have made progress which helps citizens lead their daily lives in safety, protected from crime and with protected rights but too often work is blocked or delayed due to the decision-making process used for police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters," said European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini, who is in charge of justice, freedom and security affairs.
"I am therefore glad that EU leaders agreed qualified majority voting -- and the co-decision procedure -- should apply to most Justice, Freedom and Security areas. This ends the artificial divide between different parts of EU work."
The report shows that achievements during 2006 were lower than in 2005 due to slower progress in the area of police cooperation, prevention of organized crime and judicial cooperation in criminal matters -- all third pillar areas.
Source: Xinhua
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