Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-01-17-Speech-4-131"
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"en.20020117.6.4-131"2
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"Madam President, it is a joy to see you occupying the President’s chair. Allow me to start my contribution in this full Chamber by explaining that my group considers it to be a positive development that a lack of boundaries does not lead to impunity. It will not be possible for a non-EU citizen to abuse his status in order to break laws or, for example, traffic rules. We will soon be agreed on this. The problem my group has is that the implications of this initiative of a few Member States, and the subsequent report, are not restricted to administrative penalties. Much more is at stake, including decisions through which those convicted may acquire criminal records. Serious allegations may even be involved since, in some countries, thanks to the day penalty system, custodial sentences can be exchanged for financial penalties. In those cases, therefore, what is at issue is the recognition of decisions in the field of criminal law.
Amendment No 1 of the report rightly contains the following comment, and I quote: “This requires a knowledge of the legal systems of other Member States and mutual trust in the operation of the legal system.” and this is true. But how does one promote this trust, how does one examine whether legal systems are fair, and how does one guarantee citizens a minimum level of protection across Europe, for example in connection with the enquiry which precedes the sentence? Well, this brings me back to what I have been saying all along about drafting minimum standards in the field of penal and criminal procedures law. This is important now, and it will be no less important when enlargement is a reality. My group wholeheartedly supports these administrative penalties and the principle of criminal penalties, but not until we have formally established the basis for trust by means of the minimum standards. This is why my group proposes restricting this decision to these administrative penalties."@en1
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