Since its establishment in 2004, the European arrest warrant has played a key part in strengthening police and judicial cooperation across the European Union by promoting coordination between national police forces and judiciaries. The existence of the EAW has led to a reduction in extradition times, which now sit at an average of 48 hours, a far cry from times where it would take months, and in some cases years, for countries to extradite criminals.
It is crucial that we do not take a step back when tackling the issue of criminal activity in Europe. Now, more than ever, we are witnessing a rise in organised cross-border criminal activity in many forms such as human trafficking, drug trafficking and cyber crime. Continuing to participate in the EAW will help British authorities remain one step ahead of criminals attempting to evade justice.
We live in a globalised world and the threats that countries are faced with are increasingly interconnected. The work of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee has highlighted the benefits of working together to tackle common issues at European level. Britain must refrain from opting for the isolationist route, which is what this coalition government has done too many times, on all EU matters, in order to appease the demands of a minority.
The EAW is a matter of public safety and security that should not become a weapon in the war of political opportunism between the Conservative party and Ukip. If the United Kingdom were to opt out of the EAW, the UK police force would no longer have full access to shared databases, would be restricted in its dealings with EU agencies and would lose out on funding for EU-wide instruments in law enforcement. All of these are crucial to the work of the police in protecting citizens and bringing criminals to justice. Without the EAW in place, there would be enormous extra bureaucratic burden on the police force. Even more importantly, the absence of the EAW would increase the emotional stress on the victims of crime who would have to endure lengthy criminal justice procedures as a result of a political decision to opt out of the EAW.
The facts should not go overlooked, last year alone over 1,000 foreign criminals were deported under the European arrest warrant. These activities related to drug trafficking, murder, fraud, child sex offences and rape. The gravity of this was summed up perfectly, ironically, by the Conservative member of parliament Damien Green who noted that without the EAW the UK would become ‘the best place in the EU for rapists, murderers and child molesters to flee’. With this in mind, we need to cooperate with our partners in Europe to ensure people who have committed serious crimes do not get away with manoeuvring their way around the system.
Rather than calling for an opt-out from the EAW completely, the discourse should focus on reform of the EAW to promote better cross-border cooperation. In addition, reforms should be encouraged to make the EAW safer for suspects in minor cases and stronger for the victims of crime in serious cases. It appears that, with the possible opt-out from the EAW, we are witnessing an attempt to scale back on EU legislation with no regard for the consequences that this may have on the security and safety of British citizens.
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Claude Moraes MEP is chair of the European parliament’s civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee
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