Ministers disagree on European criminal record

At an informal
meeting in Luxembourg, European justice ministers expressed
concerns over the cost and data protection implications of a
proposed  “European index system” of criminal convictions.

At an informal meeting of the Justice and Home
Affairs Council on 28 and 29 January, Luxembourg Justice Minister
Luc Frieden, outlined a plan for a central, directly
searchable register of all individuals convicted of a criminal
offence in any member state. The register would not, however, carry
any details of the offence and such information could only be
obtained on direct request between member state authorities.

Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini was
keen to push ahead with the measure, stressing that it was an
essential step towards the mutual recognition by member state
courts of criminal convictions handed down in another member state,
a step which did find general support. However, some delegations,
notably Spain and Germany, were concerned at the cost of the scheme
and problems with data protection.

Ministers did agree that Europe-wide
co-operation between police and other security authorities should
be strengthened through a Permanent Internal Security Committee, a
new body authorised under the Constitution and set to be
operational by January 2008. The ambit of responsibility of this
committee is not yet fully set but it would supplement the work of
existing operational bodies such as Europol and Eurojust.

Mr Frieden also pledged that the Luxembourg
Presidency would push ahead with measures to combat racism and
xenophobia throughout the Union and that the banning of Nazi
symbols would be one of the issues considered.

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Justice ministers to discuss European criminal record

At an informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 28 January, EU ministers will discuss asylum and aspects of the exchange of data on criminal law.