Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 31 and Article 34(2)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal of the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament^f1,

Whereas:

Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union states that the Union's objective is to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice by developing common action among the Member States in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

According to Article 31 of the Treaty on European Union, common action in criminal matters shall include, in particular, cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States.

Building on the conclusions of the Tampere European Council, The Hague Programme, adopted by the European Council in November 2004, reaffirms the priority of strengthening Freedom, Security and Justice in the European Union, in particular by enhancing judicial cooperation in criminal matters, based on the mutual recognition principle.

The framework programme established by Council Decision 2002/630/JHA of 22 July 2002 establishing a framework programme on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (AGIS)^f2 has contributed considerably to strengthening cooperation between police and other law enforcement agencies and the judiciary in the Member States and to improving mutual understanding and mutual trust between their police, judicial, legal and administrative systems.

The ambitious objectives set by the Treaty on European Union and The Hague Programme should be realised through the establishment of a flexible and effective programme that will facilitate planning and implementation.

The programme should improve mutual confidence within the judiciary. Mutual confidence, according to the Hague Programme, should be strengthened by developing networks of judicial organisation and institutions, by improving training of judicial professions, by developing the evaluation of the implementation of EU policies in the field of justice, while fully respecting the independence of the judiciary by increasing research in the field of judicial cooperation, and by facilitating operational projects among Member States aiming at modernising justice.

The programme should also facilitate the implementation of the mutual recognition principle by improving mutual knowledge on previous convictions passed in the European Union, in particular through the creation of a computerised system of exchange of information on criminal records.

The European Judicial Training Network founded by institutions specifically responsible for the training of the professional judiciary of all Member States promotes a training programme for judges and public prosecutors with a genuine European dimension. This contributes to strengthening the mutual confidence and improves mutual understanding between judicial authorities and different legal systems.

Since the objectives of this Decision cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the programme, be better achieved at the level of European Union, the Council may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, made applicable to the Union by Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities^f3, hereinafter ‘the Financial Regulation’, and Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002^f4 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002, which safeguard the Community's financial interests, applies taking into account the principles of simplicity and consistency in the choice of budgetary instruments, a limitation on the number of cases where the Commission retains direct responsibility for their implementation and management, and the required proportionality between the amount of resources and the administrative burden related to their use.

Appropriate measures should also be taken to prevent irregularities and fraud and the necessary steps should be taken to recover funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used in accordance with Council Regulations (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the Communities' financial interests^f5, (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission^f6 and Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)^f7.

The Financial Regulation requires a basic act to be adopted to cover operating grants.

The measures required to implement this Decision should be adopted according to the procedures laid down in it, with the assistance of a committee.

It is appropriate to replace Decision 2002/630/JHA from 1 January 2007 by this Decision and by Decision establishing the Specific Programme ‘Prevention of and Fight against Crime’.

In order to ensure the effective and timely implementation of the programme, this Decision should apply from 1 January 2007,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: