17 Agreement between Europol and Colombia
| (24504)
——
| Draft agreement between the Republic of Colombia and the European Police Office
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| Legal base | Articles 10, 18 and 42 of the Europol Convention and the Council Decision of 27 March 2000 authorising the Director of Europol to enter into negotiations on agreements with certain third states and non-EU bodies; information; unanimity
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| Department | Home Office |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 23 May 2003 and Minister's letter of 24 October 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 63-xxxii (2002-03), paragraph 14 (17 September 2003)
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| To be discussed in Council | 6 November 2003
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
|
Background
17.1 The Council Decision of 27 March 2000 authorised the Director
of Europol to begin negotiations with certain third states, including
Colombia, and non-EU bodies. The document was cleared by the previous
Committee in October 1999[37].
The document
17.2 The document defines the areas of criminality to which the
agreement applies and makes provision for the nomination of competent
authorities in Colombia and Europol, confidentiality, liaison
officer arrangements, and the amendment and termination of the
agreement.
The Government's view
17.3 In his Explanatory Memorandum, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State at the Home Office (Mr Bob Ainsworth) told us that the
agreement is important in the fight against serious forms of organised
cross-border crime impacting on EU Members. Colombia plays a significant
role, particularly in respect of drug trafficking.
17.4 The Minister's understanding was that amendments
to agreements with third states would require new unanimous approval
from the Council. But the drafting of Article 11 was not clear
on this point and so the Government would be seeking clarification
from Europol.
Previous scrutiny of the document
17.5 When we considered the document on 17 September,
we were not happy with the drafting of Article 11. We decided,
therefore, to keep the document under scrutiny until we heard
from the Government about the clarification it was seeking.[38]
The Minister's letter
17.6 In her letter of 24 October 2003, the Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office (Caroline Flint) informed
us that the Government had succeeded in obtaining a satisfactory
redraft of Article 11. It now states that "Europol may only
give its consent to amendments after unanimous approval by the
Council of the European Union". The Government is, therefore,
content with the text of the agreement and would support its approval
by the Council when the document is cleared from scrutiny.
Conclusion
17.7 We, too, are satisfied with the redraft of
Article 11 and with the rest of the text. Accordingly, we clear
the document.
37 (20546) -; see HC 34-xxix (1998-99), paragraph 13
(27 October 1999). Back
38
See headnote. Back
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