COM(2004)221-1 - Measures to be taken to combat terrorism and other forms of serious crime, in particular to improve exchanges of information

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  1. Key information
  2. Key dates
  3. Related information
  4. Full version
  5. EU Monitor

1.

Key information

official title

Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on measures to be taken to combat terrorism and other forms of serious crime, in particular to improve exchanges of information
 
Legal instrument Communication
reference by COM-number65 COM(2004)221 EN
Additional COM-numbers COM(2004)221
CELEX number68 52004DC0221

2.

Key dates

Document 29-03-2004
Online publication 29-03-2004

3.

Related information

  • Explanatory memorandum
  • Legal provisions
  • Annexes
 

4.

Full version

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5.

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  • 1. 
    In 2004 the Commission is planning to launch a 'Preparatory Action on the enhancement of the European industrial potential in the field of security research'. The aim is to improve the public's security by means of technological research and development. Among the priority topics, the plan is to develop specific projects to face up to the different types of terrorist threat, in line with the European Security Strategy now being finalised.

     
  • 2. 
    Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrine the right to privacy and the right to protection of personal data.

     
  • 3. 
    See the report on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union and the Member States in 2002, presented to the European Commission by the European Network of Independent Experts on 31 March 2003 (europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/ index_en.htm).

     
  • 4. 
    For instance, Council Joint Action 96/610/JHA of 15 October 1996 concerning the creation and maintenance of a Directory of specialised counter-terrorist competences, skills and expertise to facilitate counter-terrorist cooperation between the Member States of the European Union; and Council Recommendation of 9 December 1999 on cooperation in combating the financing of terrorist groups (OJ C 373, 23.12.1999, p.1).

     
  • 5. 
    Extraordinary informal European Council in Brussels, 21 September 2001 (www.europarl.eu.int/summits/pdf/bru_en.pdf).

     
  • 6. 
    The measures taken by the Union are set out in Commission staff working paper SEC (2003) 414 of 28 March 2003 on actions to combat the financing of terrorism, produced as requested by the Joint Ecofin
     
  • 7. 
    For instance, Council Act of 16 October 2001 establishing, in accordance with Article 34 of the Treaty on European Union, the Protocol to the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the European Union; Parliament and Council Directive 2001/97/EC of 4 December 2001 amending Council Directive 91/308/EEC on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering; Council Decision of 6 December 2001 extending Europol's mandate to deal with the serious forms of international crime listed in the Annex to the Europol Convention; Council Decision 2002/187/JHA of 28 February 2002 setting up Eurojust with a view to reinforcing the fight against serious crime; Council Framework Decision 2002/465/JHA of 13 June 2002 on joint investigation teams; Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant.

     
  • 8. 
    The measures based on UN Security Council Resolutions include: Council Common Position 2001/930/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on combating terrorism, which directly seeks to combat the financing of terrorism and takes over provisions from UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001); Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, the Annex to which lists persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts; Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism; Council Decision 2001/927/EC of 27 December 2001 establishing the list provided for in Article 2(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001, replaced by Decision 2003/646/EC (OJ L 229, 13.9.2003, p. 22); Council Common Position 2002/402/CFSP of 27 May 2002 concerning restrictive measures against Usama bin Laden, members of the Al-Qaida organisation and the Taliban and other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them and repealing Common Positions 96/746/CFSP, 1999/727/CFSP, 2001/154/CFSP and 2001/771/CFSP; Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 of 27 May 2002; Council Decision 2003/48/JHA of 19 December 2002 on the implementation of specific measures for police and judicial cooperation to combat terrorism in accordance with Article 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP.

     
  • 9. 
    For instance, establishment of a team of experts to combat terrorism in Europol; the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 20 September 2001 decided to establish a team of experts in anti-terrorist activities in Europol to gather in good time all relevant information and data on the current threat, analyse it and carry out the requisite operational and strategic analyses. Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA of 13 June 2002 on combating terrorism, adopted on the basis of a Commission initiative, is now the common legislative foundation for criminal law in the Union. It approximates offences and penalties in the Union. It defines terrorist offences: terrorist offences as such and offences related to a terrorist group, including financing.

     
  • 10. 
    0 SEC (2003) 414, 28 March 2003: 'Commission staff working paper on actions to combat the financing of terrorism'.

     
  • 11. 
    1 E.g. arms trafficking, drugs trafficking, diamond trafficking and counterfeiting and piracy of goods.

     
  • 12. 
    2 Financing of terrorist groups can include income from legitimate sources: charitable fund-raising is one means of financing terrorism. But a terrorist group can also use the proceeds of criminal activity, like criminal organisations.

     
  • 13. 
    3 OJ L 351, 29.12.1998, p.1. A criminal organisation is defined as 'a structured association, established over a period of time, of more than two persons, acting in concert with a view to committing offences which are punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order of a maximum of at least four years or a more serious penalty, whether such offences are an end in themselves or a means of obtaining material benefits and, where appropriate, of improperly influencing the operation of public authorities'.

     
  • 14. 
    4 Council Act of 26 July 1995 drawing up the Convention based on Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the establishment of a European Police Office (Europol Convention): OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p.1.

     
  • 15. 
    5 United Nations Convention against transnational organised crime adopted by Resolution A/RES/55/25 of 15 November 2000 at the 55th UN General Assembly. The 40th instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretariat-General of the United Nations on 1 July 2003; Article 38 accordingly came into force on 29 September 2003.

     
  • 16. 
    6 OJ L 164, 26.6.2002, p. 3.

     
  • 17. 
    7 Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA creates offences of directing a terrorist group and of different forms of participation in the activities of a terrorist group (by supplying information or material resources, or by funding its activities in any way, with knowledge of the fact that such participation will contribute to the criminal activities of the terrorist group), and provides also for inciting, aiding or abetting, and in most cases attempting these offences. Regarding penalties, it introduces a principle of 'aggravating circumstance' by providing that 'terrorist offences' and certain offences linked to terrorism must be punishable by custodial sentences heavier than those imposable under national law for such offences in the absence of a terrorist intent, it sets the minimum level of the maximum penalty at 15 years for directing a terrorist group and 8 years for participation in a terrorist group, it enumerates a series of penalties that can be imposed on bodies corporate (in particular exclusion from entitlement to public benefits or aid, temporary or permanent disqualification from the practice of commercial activities, placing under judicial supervision, judicial winding-up order and closure of establishments), it provides for a system of 'repentis' by providing for specific circumstances in which Member States may reduce prison sentences where the terrorist renounces terrorist activity or provides the administrative or judicial authorities with information. And it establishes rules of jurisdiction, provides for coordination between Member States and the centralisation of prosecutions.

     
  • 18. 
    8 Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 provides for the freezing of the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of persons, groups and entities involved in acts of terrorism and a prohibition on providing them with financial services. They are listed in the Annex. The list is regularly updated by new common positions amending the original Annex. Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 is on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism. It implements the freezing of the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of the listed persons, groups and entities and the prohibition on providing them with financial services. The list is regularly amended and updated. It concerns natural and legal persons, groups and entities that commit or attempt to commit an act of terrorism, participate in or facilitate such an act. The Regulation is implemented by Decisions publishing lists in the Official Journal. And Council Common Position 2002/402/CFSP of 27 May 2002 concerns measures against Usama bin Laden, members of the Al-Qaida organisation and the Taliban and other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them. It provides for the Community to order the freezing of the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of the individuals, groups, undertakings and entities on the list drawn up pursuant to UNSCR 1267(1999) and 1333(2000) which is updated regularly by the Committee established pursuant to UNSCR 1267(1999). Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 of 27 May 2002 provides for measures against the same persons and entities. It provides in particular that all funds and economic resources belonging to, or owned or held by, a natural or legal person, group or entity designated by the Sanctions Committee and listed in Annex I shall be frozen. The list has been updated by a succession of Regulations.

     
  • 19. 
    9 Certain Member States have established a system of centralisation of bank accounts. In France, there is the 'Fichier des comptes bancaires et assimilés' (FICOBA). Set up in the early 1970s, it has been computerised since 1982 and currently records about 270 million accounts. It is fed by compulsory declarations from financial establishments, which are obliged to declare accounts they manage and to supply certain information about them. The data file is consulted by the tax departments and the judicial authorities. It is also used in judicial cooperation to answer requests for judicial assistance from foreign authorities to French judicial authorities.

     
  • 20. 
    0 OJ C 326, 21.11.2001 p. 1.

     
  • 21. 
    1 OJ C 124, 3.5.2000 p.1.

     
  • 22. 
    2 These terms are taken from recommendation 8 of the programme of action on organised crime adopted by the Council on 28 April 1997 which ought to have been implemented by the end of 1998. The 1997 programme of action was fuller on this point since it referred not only to information on natural persons participating in the formation or management of such legal persons but also natural persons participating in the financing of legal persons.

     
  • 23. 
    3 SEC (2003) 378, 21.3.2003, produced in accordance with Recommendation 39 in 'the European Union Strategy for the Beginning of the New Millennium on Prevention and Control of Organised Crime' (OJ C 124, 3.5.2000, p.1). It was examined by the par le Multidisciplinary Group on organised crime (GMD), which produced the document 'CRIMORG 36' of 2 June 2003 entitled 'Draft report on the measures and steps taken with regard to the implementation of the recommendations of the European Union Strategy for the Beginning of the New Millennium on Prevention and Control of Organised Crime'.

     
  • 24. 
    4 Study No DG.JAI-B2/2003/01 done by IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) in 2003 under the direction of Constantin Stefanou and Helen Xanthaki.

     
  • 25. 
    5 See the considerations about the European criminal record in Chapter 7 of this Communication.

     
  • 26. 
    6 Recommendation 7 of the 1997 plan of action on organised crime provides for disqualifying people convicted of offences related to organised crime from pubic tendering procedures in the Member States and the Community and rejecting their applications for grants and licences. Recommendation 2 in the European Union strategy for the new millennium takes up the same idea.

     
  • 27. 
    COM (2000) 495 final, 26.7.2000, section 5.

     
  • 28. 
    OJ C 12, 15.1.2001, p.10.

     
  • 29. 
    9 Measure 2 concerns the adoption of "one or more instruments establishing the principle that a court in one Member State must be able to take account of final criminal judgments rendered by the courts in other Member States for the purposes of assessing the offender's criminal record and establishing whether he has reoffended, and in order to determine the type of sentence applicable and the arrangements for enforcing it." As regards taking account of foreign convictions as envisaged by the above measure, the situation varies widely from one Member State to another. Article 56 of the Council of Europe Convention on the international validity of criminal judgments of 1970 provides: 'Each Contracting State shall legislate as it deems appropriate to enable its courts when rendering a judgment to take into consideration any previous European criminal judgment rendered for another offence after a hearing of the accused with a view to attaching to this judgment all or some of the effects which its law attaches to judgments rendered in its territory. It shall determine the conditions in which this judgment is taken into consideration'. But only four Member States have ratified the Convention (Austria, Denmark, Spain and Sweden) without entering reservations on the application de Article 56. Measure 3 reads: 'In order to facilitate the exchange of information, a standard form like that drawn up for the Schengen bodies, translated into all the official Union languages, should be introduced for criminal records applications'. As regards this standard form for criminal records applications, the Commission has concluded that its should be combined with the model in the proposal for a Framework Decision on the European Evidence Warrant for obtaining objects, documents and data for use in proceedings in criminal matters. Under this proposal, existing judicial assistance procedures for obtaining criminal records would be replaced by a warrant issued by a judicial authority and enforced in accordance with the mutual recognition principle. Measure 4 reads: "A feasibility study should be carried out to determine how best to ensure, while taking full account of requirements relating to personal freedoms and data protection, that the competent authorities in the European Union are informed of an individual's criminal convictions. Such a study should cover, in particular, the types of conviction that should be concerned and consider which of the following would be the best method: (a) to facilitate bilateral information exchanges; (b) to network national criminal records offices; or (c) to establish a genuine European central criminal records office ".

     
  • 30. 
    "Blueprint for an EU criminal records database: Legal, politico-institutional
     
  • 31. 
    Study DG.JAI-B2/2003/01 done by IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) in 2003 under the direction of Constantin Stefanou and Helen Xanthaki.

     
  • 32. 
    Study DG.JAI-B2/2003/01 done by IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) in 2003 under the direction of Constantin Stefanou and Helen Xanthaki.

     
  • 33. 
    In 2004 the Commission is planning to launch a 'Preparatory Action on the enhancement of the European industrial potential in the field of security research'. The aim is to improve the public's security by means of technological research and development. Among the priority topics, the plan is to develop specific projects to face up to the different types of terrorist threat, in line with the European Security Strategy now being finalised.

     
  • 34. 
    Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrine the right to privacy and the right to protection of personal data.

     
  • 35. 
    See the report on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union and the Member States in 2002, presented to the European Commission by the European Network of Independent Experts on 31 March 2003 (europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/ index_en.htm).

     
  • 36. 
    For instance, Council Joint Action 96/610/JHA of 15 October 1996 concerning the creation and maintenance of a Directory of specialised counter-terrorist competences, skills and expertise to facilitate counter-terrorist cooperation between the Member States of the European Union; and Council Recommendation of 9 December 1999 on cooperation in combating the financing of terrorist groups (OJ C 373, 23.12.1999, p.1).

     
  • 37. 
    Extraordinary informal European Council in Brussels, 21 September 2001 (www.europarl.eu.int/summits/pdf/bru_en.pdf).

     
  • 38. 
    The measures taken by the Union are set out in Commission staff working paper SEC (2003) 414 of 28 March 2003 on actions to combat the financing of terrorism, produced as requested by the Joint Ecofin
     
  • 39. 
    For instance, Council Act of 16 October 2001 establishing, in accordance with Article 34 of the Treaty on European Union, the Protocol to the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the European Union; Parliament and Council Directive 2001/97/EC of 4 December 2001 amending Council Directive 91/308/EEC on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering; Council Decision of 6 December 2001 extending Europol's mandate to deal with the serious forms of international crime listed in the Annex to the Europol Convention; Council Decision 2002/187/JHA of 28 February 2002 setting up Eurojust with a view to reinforcing the fight against serious crime; Council Framework Decision 2002/465/JHA of 13 June 2002 on joint investigation teams; Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant.

     
  • 40. 
    The measures based on UN Security Council Resolutions include: Council Common Position 2001/930/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on combating terrorism, which directly seeks to combat the financing of terrorism and takes over provisions from UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001); Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, the Annex to which lists persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts; Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism; Council Decision 2001/927/EC of 27 December 2001 establishing the list provided for in Article 2(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001, replaced by Decision 2003/646/EC (OJ L 229, 13.9.2003, p. 22); Council Common Position 2002/402/CFSP of 27 May 2002 concerning restrictive measures against Usama bin Laden, members of the Al-Qaida organisation and the Taliban and other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them and repealing Common Positions 96/746/CFSP, 1999/727/CFSP, 2001/154/CFSP and 2001/771/CFSP; Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 of 27 May 2002; Council Decision 2003/48/JHA of 19 December 2002 on the implementation of specific measures for police and judicial cooperation to combat terrorism in accordance with Article 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP.

     
  • 41. 
    For instance, establishment of a team of experts to combat terrorism in Europol; the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 20 September 2001 decided to establish a team of experts in anti-terrorist activities in Europol to gather in good time all relevant information and data on the current threat, analyse it and carry out the requisite operational and strategic analyses. Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA of 13 June 2002 on combating terrorism, adopted on the basis of a Commission initiative, is now the common legislative foundation for criminal law in the Union. It approximates offences and penalties in the Union. It defines terrorist offences: terrorist offences as such and offences related to a terrorist group, including financing.

     
  • 42. 
    0 SEC (2003) 414, 28 March 2003: 'Commission staff working paper on actions to combat the financing of terrorism'.

     
  • 43. 
    1 E.g. arms trafficking, drugs trafficking, diamond trafficking and counterfeiting and piracy of goods.

     
  • 44. 
    2 Financing of terrorist groups can include income from legitimate sources: charitable fund-raising is one means of financing terrorism. But a terrorist group can also use the proceeds of criminal activity, like criminal organisations.

     
  • 45. 
    3 OJ L 351, 29.12.1998, p.1. A criminal organisation is defined as 'a structured association, established over a period of time, of more than two persons, acting in concert with a view to committing offences which are punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order of a maximum of at least four years or a more serious penalty, whether such offences are an end in themselves or a means of obtaining material benefits and, where appropriate, of improperly influencing the operation of public authorities'.

     
  • 46. 
    4 Council Act of 26 July 1995 drawing up the Convention based on Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the establishment of a European Police Office (Europol Convention): OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p.1.

     
  • 47. 
    5 United Nations Convention against transnational organised crime adopted by Resolution A/RES/55/25 of 15 November 2000 at the 55th UN General Assembly. The 40th instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretariat-General of the United Nations on 1 July 2003; Article 38 accordingly came into force on 29 September 2003.

     
  • 48. 
    6 OJ L 164, 26.6.2002, p. 3.

     
  • 49. 
    7 Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA creates offences of directing a terrorist group and of different forms of participation in the activities of a terrorist group (by supplying information or material resources, or by funding its activities in any way, with knowledge of the fact that such participation will contribute to the criminal activities of the terrorist group), and provides also for inciting, aiding or abetting, and in most cases attempting these offences. Regarding penalties, it introduces a principle of 'aggravating circumstance' by providing that 'terrorist offences' and certain offences linked to terrorism must be punishable by custodial sentences heavier than those imposable under national law for such offences in the absence of a terrorist intent, it sets the minimum level of the maximum penalty at 15 years for directing a terrorist group and 8 years for participation in a terrorist group, it enumerates a series of penalties that can be imposed on bodies corporate (in particular exclusion from entitlement to public benefits or aid, temporary or permanent disqualification from the practice of commercial activities, placing under judicial supervision, judicial winding-up order and closure of establishments), it provides for a system of 'repentis' by providing for specific circumstances in which Member States may reduce prison sentences where the terrorist renounces terrorist activity or provides the administrative or judicial authorities with information. And it establishes rules of jurisdiction, provides for coordination between Member States and the centralisation of prosecutions.

     
  • 50. 
    8 Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 provides for the freezing of the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of persons, groups and entities involved in acts of terrorism and a prohibition on providing them with financial services. They are listed in the Annex. The list is regularly updated by new common positions amending the original Annex. Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 is on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism. It implements the freezing of the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of the listed persons, groups and entities and the prohibition on providing them with financial services. The list is regularly amended and updated. It concerns natural and legal persons, groups and entities that commit or attempt to commit an act of terrorism, participate in or facilitate such an act. The Regulation is implemented by Decisions publishing lists in the Official Journal. And Council Common Position 2002/402/CFSP of 27 May 2002 concerns measures against Usama bin Laden, members of the Al-Qaida organisation and the Taliban and other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them. It provides for the Community to order the freezing of the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of the individuals, groups, undertakings and entities on the list drawn up pursuant to UNSCR 1267(1999) and 1333(2000) which is updated regularly by the Committee established pursuant to UNSCR 1267(1999). Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 of 27 May 2002 provides for measures against the same persons and entities. It provides in particular that all funds and economic resources belonging to, or owned or held by, a natural or legal person, group or entity designated by the Sanctions Committee and listed in Annex I shall be frozen. The list has been updated by a succession of Regulations.

     
  • 51. 
    9 Certain Member States have established a system of centralisation of bank accounts. In France, there is the 'Fichier des comptes bancaires et assimilés' (FICOBA). Set up in the early 1970s, it has been computerised since 1982 and currently records about 270 million accounts. It is fed by compulsory declarations from financial establishments, which are obliged to declare accounts they manage and to supply certain information about them. The data file is consulted by the tax departments and the judicial authorities. It is also used in judicial cooperation to answer requests for judicial assistance from foreign authorities to French judicial authorities.

     
  • 52. 
    0 OJ C 326, 21.11.2001 p. 1.

     
  • 53. 
    1 OJ C 124, 3.5.2000 p.1.

     
  • 54. 
    2 These terms are taken from recommendation 8 of the programme of action on organised crime adopted by the Council on 28 April 1997 which ought to have been implemented by the end of 1998. The 1997 programme of action was fuller on this point since it referred not only to information on natural persons participating in the formation or management of such legal persons but also natural persons participating in the financing of legal persons.

     
  • 55. 
    3 SEC (2003) 378, 21.3.2003, produced in accordance with Recommendation 39 in 'the European Union Strategy for the Beginning of the New Millennium on Prevention and Control of Organised Crime' (OJ C 124, 3.5.2000, p.1). It was examined by the par le Multidisciplinary Group on organised crime (GMD), which produced the document 'CRIMORG 36' of 2 June 2003 entitled 'Draft report on the measures and steps taken with regard to the implementation of the recommendations of the European Union Strategy for the Beginning of the New Millennium on Prevention and Control of Organised Crime'.

     
  • 56. 
    4 Study No DG.JAI-B2/2003/01 done by IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) in 2003 under the direction of Constantin Stefanou and Helen Xanthaki.

     
  • 57. 
    5 See the considerations about the European criminal record in Chapter 7 of this Communication.

     
  • 58. 
    6 Recommendation 7 of the 1997 plan of action on organised crime provides for disqualifying people convicted of offences related to organised crime from pubic tendering procedures in the Member States and the Community and rejecting their applications for grants and licences. Recommendation 2 in the European Union strategy for the new millennium takes up the same idea.

     
  • 59. 
    COM (2000) 495 final, 26.7.2000, section 5.

     
  • 60. 
    OJ C 12, 15.1.2001, p.10.

     
  • 61. 
    9 Measure 2 concerns the adoption of "one or more instruments establishing the principle that a court in one Member State must be able to take account of final criminal judgments rendered by the courts in other Member States for the purposes of assessing the offender's criminal record and establishing whether he has reoffended, and in order to determine the type of sentence applicable and the arrangements for enforcing it." As regards taking account of foreign convictions as envisaged by the above measure, the situation varies widely from one Member State to another. Article 56 of the Council of Europe Convention on the international validity of criminal judgments of 1970 provides: 'Each Contracting State shall legislate as it deems appropriate to enable its courts when rendering a judgment to take into consideration any previous European criminal judgment rendered for another offence after a hearing of the accused with a view to attaching to this judgment all or some of the effects which its law attaches to judgments rendered in its territory. It shall determine the conditions in which this judgment is taken into consideration'. But only four Member States have ratified the Convention (Austria, Denmark, Spain and Sweden) without entering reservations on the application de Article 56. Measure 3 reads: 'In order to facilitate the exchange of information, a standard form like that drawn up for the Schengen bodies, translated into all the official Union languages, should be introduced for criminal records applications'. As regards this standard form for criminal records applications, the Commission has concluded that its should be combined with the model in the proposal for a Framework Decision on the European Evidence Warrant for obtaining objects, documents and data for use in proceedings in criminal matters. Under this proposal, existing judicial assistance procedures for obtaining criminal records would be replaced by a warrant issued by a judicial authority and enforced in accordance with the mutual recognition principle. Measure 4 reads: "A feasibility study should be carried out to determine how best to ensure, while taking full account of requirements relating to personal freedoms and data protection, that the competent authorities in the European Union are informed of an individual's criminal convictions. Such a study should cover, in particular, the types of conviction that should be concerned and consider which of the following would be the best method: (a) to facilitate bilateral information exchanges; (b) to network national criminal records offices; or (c) to establish a genuine European central criminal records office ".

     
  • 62. 
    "Blueprint for an EU criminal records database: Legal, politico-institutional
     
  • 63. 
    Study DG.JAI-B2/2003/01 done by IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) in 2003 under the direction of Constantin Stefanou and Helen Xanthaki.

     
  • 64. 
    Study DG.JAI-B2/2003/01 done by IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) in 2003 under the direction of Constantin Stefanou and Helen Xanthaki.

     
  • 65. 
    De Europese Commissie kent nummers toe aan officiële documenten van de Europese Unie. De Commissie maakt onderscheid in een aantal typen documenten door middel van het toekennen van verschillende nummerseries. Het onderscheid is gebaseerd op het soort document en/of de instelling van de Unie van wie het document afkomstig is.
     
  • 66. 
    De Raad van de Europese Unie kent aan wetgevingsdossiers een uniek toe. Dit nummer bestaat uit een vijfcijferig volgnummer gevolgd door een schuine streep met de laatste twee cijfers van het jaartal, bijvoorbeeld 12345/00 - een document met nummer 12345 uit het jaar 2000.
     
  • 67. 
    Het interinstitutionele nummer is een nummerreeks die binnen de Europese Unie toegekend wordt aan voorstellen voor regelgeving van de Europese Commissie.
    Binnen de Europese Unie worden nog een aantal andere nummerseries gebruikt. Iedere instelling heeft één of meerdere sets documenten met ieder een eigen nummering. Die reeksen komen niet overeen met elkaar of het interinstitutioneel nummer.
     
  • 68. 
    Deze databank van de Europese Unie biedt de mogelijkheid de actuele werkzaamheden (workflow) van de Europese instellingen (Europees Parlement, Raad, ESC, Comité van de Regio's, Europese Centrale Bank, Hof van Justitie enz.) te volgen. EURlex volgt alle voorstellen (zoals wetgevende en begrotingsdossiers) en mededelingen van de Commissie, vanaf het moment dat ze aan de Raad of het Europees Parlement worden voorgelegd.
     
  • 69. 
    Als dag van bekendmaking van een Europees besluit geldt de dag waarop het besluit in het Publicatieblad wordt bekendgemaakt, en daardoor in alle officiële talen van de Europese Unie bij het Publicatiebureau beschikbaar is.