Barnier says no UK access to EU-only police databases after Brexit, UK cannot take part in the European Arrest Warrant, UK will lose 'benefits of cooperation':
The UK has decided to leave the EU, its institutions, structures and safeguards. It will be a third country outside Schengen and outside the EU's legal order. This is a fact.
Facts have consequences.
The UK's recent paper on security, law enforcement and criminal justice expresses a desire to keep the benefits of EU membership.
This is understandable when you look at what we have achieved together as a Union in internal security.
- Together, on the basis of the European Arrest Warrant, we extradite wanted criminals or suspects – including own nationals – from one Member State to another.
- Together, we set up Europol to support Member States law enforcement authorities. Europol pools information from across the EU and helps fight cross-border crime.
- Together, with our Schengen partners such as Norway and Switzerland, we operate the Schengen Information System. It was consulted over 5 billion times last year to monitor who is crossing Schengen borders. It helped to capture dangerous criminals and terrorists. It also helped to retrieve not only stolen cars, but also missing people and missing children.
- Together, under the European Investigation Order, we collect evidence from each other and exchange it swiftly in order to bring criminals to justice.
- Together, we execute each other's judicial decisions in real time, for instance by confiscating criminals' property or freezing their assets.
Such achievements can today seem obvious to us Europeans.
But are they really?
- Is there another region in the world where sovereign states rely on each other to create such intense cooperation for internal security?
- Is there another region where sovereign states build together a common area without internal border controls? Where citizens enjoy free movement and security, and can avail of shared institutions to ensure their fundamental rights are protected?
This cooperation is both unique and unprecedented. And it is made possible by the trust between Member States.
This trust does not fall from the sky! There is no magic wand.
As I set out in a recent speech in Lisbon in front of the International Federation of European Law, this trust is founded on an "ecosystem" based on common rules and safeguards, shared decisions, joint supervision and implementation and a common Court of Justice.
If you leave this "ecosystem", you lose the benefits of this cooperation. You are a third country because you have decided to be so. And you need to build a new relationship.
To negotiate an ambitious new relationship with the UK, which we all want, we need more realism on what is possible and what is not when a country is outside of the EU's area of justice, freedom and security and outside of Schengen.
A few words also on extradition as it has attracted a lot of public attention recently:
Let me explain the facts.
The European Arrest Warrant is linked to the free movement of people. It works well because it is based on mutual trust between Member States.
This trust is underpinned by:
- shared respect for fundamental rights as set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights;
- by certainty that other Member States enforce and apply the rules the same way, under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice;
- and by the concept of EU citizenship, which allows Member States to lift the constitutional ban on the extradition of their own nationals.
Yet today we know that the UK is not ready to accept the free movement of people, the jurisdiction of the Court and the Charter of Fundamental Rights – for the Charter, this was confirmed last week by the House of Commons.
This means that the UK cannot take part in the European Arrest Warrant.
This does not mean that we cannot work together on extradition.
This is our offer. While we are constrained by the UK's red lines, it is a fair offer. It reflects our strong commitment to address our common challenges.
Some in the UK would like to go further.
They want to maintain all the benefits of the current relationship, while leaving the EU regulatory, supervision, and application framework. And they try to blame us for the consequences of their choice.
Once again, we will not be drawn into this blame game. It would mean wasting time we don't have.
In this field of internal security, it is particularly hard to speak about what will no longer be possible. But we have, I have, to speak the truth.
The UK decided to leave the EU. We regret this decision but this is a democratic decision and we have to respect it and now we are working towards an orderly withdrawal.
If we want to build a new relationship, we need a basis of good will and confidence. We also need more realism about what is and what is not possible.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SP ... 213_en.htm
