Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-08-Speech-2-276"
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"en.20030408.8.2-276"2
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".
Mr President, I am slightly at a loss, for the necessary political interlocutor in a debate such as this, the Council, is not here. I feel that the presence of a high-level representative is necessary in a debate on an issue to which Parliament attaches such great importance. That said, and I would like it to be recorded in the Minutes, at least, I would particularly like to thank all my colleagues in the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, especially Mr Deprez and Mr von Boetticher, for their hard work which has enabled us to achieve a common position.
I would like, first of all, to point out that Parliament has repeatedly called upon the Council to reform the Europol Convention to allow for concrete democratic control and powers over Europol, notably in the Nassauer, Karamanou and Deprez reports. With these reports, we are calling once again today for greater European Parliament involvement in the Europol budget procedure and for Europol to be funded through the Community budget. We are calling for European Parliament involvement in the appointment and dismissal of Europol's Director and Deputy Directors, and for two European Parliament elected representatives to take part in the Management Board meetings. We are calling for full respect of Parliament’s rights to be informed and consulted. We are calling for the revision of the Europol Convention to bring it into line with higher standards and methods of democratic control. We are calling for the strengthening of judicial control by the Court of Justice. Lastly, we are calling for the communitarisation of Europol.
The European Commission has already expressed itself on the issue of democratic control, proposing to establish a joint committee, consisting of members of both the Member States’ and European Parliament committees responsible for police matters. The issue of democratic control of Europol has also been recently debated in the Convention Working Group ‘Freedom, security and justice’. According to the Minutes of the Working Group, during a hearing, the Europol Director, Mr Storbeck, affirmed that ‘parliamentary control of Europol is currently unclear’; he stated the difficulties in being accountable to too many national parliaments and that stronger and more efficient democratic control would be in Europol's own interest. He mentioned the prospect of control by the European Parliament as a possible solution. The same Convention Working Group has drafted a final report which states: ‘Europol activities will need in the future to be subject to democratic accountability to the European Parliament and to the Council, as well as to judicial control by the ECJ in accordance with the normal Treaty rules’.
Notwithstanding all these repeated appeals and specific proposals, here we are today discussing a Protocol to the Europol Convention on which the European Parliament is being consulted. Not only does it not solve these issues, it does not even address them. The results of a comparison between the current powers of democratic control over Europol and the proposed reforms contained in the Protocol are extremely disappointing. In the face of all this, we in the committee – and, I hope, tomorrow, the House – noting that repeated requests and proposals for real, improved democratic control and powers on Europol have been ignored
can only condemn the fact that the proposed changes are mainly aesthetic and make a mockery of the European Parliament and the European citizens which elected it.
The Council has not followed Parliament’s repeated requests for increased powers
over the Europol budget and in the appointment and dismissal procedures or for European Parliament representatives’ participation in the Management Board. Neither has it followed the Commission proposal for a joint committee, or the Europol Director's view in favour of increased democratic control. Under these conditions, the European Parliament will keep its current role with regard to Europol: discussing without anybody listening and making reports without anybody implementing. Inevitably, one day, the Council will have to realise that increased democratic control and powers with regard to Europol are the only guarantee for its correct functioning and administration in everybody's interest.
Our rejection of the initiatives and the resolution we have tabled confirm this: as I said, it was a difficult decision; we discussed the matter at least four times in committee, but, in the end, all the political groups agreed on this document. I know it has been said countless times before, but the Council cannot be allowed to continue to ignore this position – which is no longer just Parliament’s position
. I hope and trust that Commissioner Vitorino will have a helpful suggestion as to an effective course of action, as he has proposed many effective measures in the course of this legislature."@en1
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