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"We must have courage, not fear. We know how institutions work, the problems of prudence that have so much ballasted us in the great problems in recent years in the EU. That does not have to stop us, on the contrary. Either we are brave or we will have many problems in the Union. " Maite Pagazaurtundúa , Citizens MEP and who knows a lot about courage, has been flying a crusade for months to try to open a controversial, complicated debate in Brussels and that virtually no one else wants to mention: the euroorder reform. He knows that supporters are in the minority, that there are impediments and risks, but he still urges to open the melon before it's too late.
The European Detention Order (OED), a simplified and cross-border judicial delivery procedure, has been in force since 2004. Its formulation is largely due to the Spanish pressure, which then had in the ETA prisoners escaped in places like Belgium its great objective . All actors - Member States, European institutions, judicial authorities - agree that it worked well, very well. That has its limits, its dead angles, but that has helped a lot in the day to day. Until the Puigdemont case.
Actually, the "up" is unfair. These same parties, including the Spanish authorities - political, diplomatic, legal and civil servants - insist that the failures in Belgium and Germany , each in its own way, have not affected the daily functioning of the euroorder at all. But all emphasize that it is clear that there has been political and image damage.
That is why Citizens and the Popular Party have been advocating for an in-depth reform of the Euroorder for almost two years and that is why they are putting strong pressure from the European Parliament.
The Popular Party has requested that this institution make a report on the functioning of the Euro-order to identify the problems encountered in its application during the last years and also to be able to propose improvements to this instrument of judicial cooperation between the EU Member States.
"Now, with the start of the new European legislature, and the imminent beginning of the mandate of the new European Commission, it is time to do this review and evaluation work," he said a few days ago before the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Inside the chamber MEP Javier Zarzalejos .
Both groups, and Vox with them, know that it is a losing battle or almost, right now, but they insist on carrying it forward. Even, given the warnings of many experts, nationals and institutions, who warn them that "the shot can go through the butt. It is a hornet's nest, and if that debate is really reopened right now, most likely, it will , is that the result would be the opposite of what those voices want in Spain, "say from the Commission and various diplomatic sources.
That is why they are even willing to vote against Belgian Didier Reynders , the next Justice Commissioner candidate. This Wednesday, the leader of Cs in Brussels, Luis Garicano met him, and although from the orange formation they indicate that the dialogue was positive, he was informed that the group will oppose his appointment if he does not publicly commit to touching the reform of the European arrest warrant.
The Puigdemont case did a lot of damage and the scars are still visible. He left a good part of the citizens with the feeling that the Euro-order does not work, that there is no trust between states, that something is rotten in Europe if, given the serious crimes for which former escaped independence leaders were claimed, there was no delivery safe.
The European Detention Order has a battery of 32 categories of crimes that involve automatic delivery, but for the rest more complex procedures come into play, which require, for example, that the crime for which an escape is claimed has equivalence in the criminal codes Nationals With sedition and rebellion there have been problems both in Belgium - where the case was not concluded, when Judge Pablo Llarena withdrew the euroorder - and in Germany, where the court rejected the Spanish petition.
Citizens has commissioned a detailed report to the GC Legal firm that dissects the problems and offers a series of concrete proposals to improve the order. The document warns of present risks, when it is possible that political discretion has been "replaced by judicial discretion that enjoys a wide margin of cognition, based on somewhat imprecise regulation." This leads to a "kind of prejudice or prejudice by the receiving State of the request", with what happened with Carles Puigdemont and his collaborators in the head, which can lead to the denial of a delivery.
102 Euroorders issued in two months
Actually, rejecting a request is frequent. And from the Ministry of Justice they say that what happened has not affected cooperation between authorities at all. In July and August 2019 alone, 102 OEDs were issued by Spanish judicial authorities, and in that same period, 172 people were arrested in our country by OED from Member States.
In 2017, the year the controversy began, Spain received 991 OED, arrested 818 people and delivered 676. At the same time the Spanish judicial authorities issued 618 OED and there were 201 deliveries of claims by Spain, with an average term between 12 and 26 days, depending on whether it is consented or not. The figures for 2018 are similar, with 824 issued and 268 deliveries.
That said, it is true that there are problems with the Euroorder. Recently, in a letter sent to Pagazaurtundúa, Commissioner Europa Vera Jourova admitted that "the implementation of the euroorder is not satisfactory" and opened the door infringement procedures to ensure that all states comply with the legal framework. "But between countries and the Commission itself has no appetite for debate and for retouching it, Zero, and they have always made it very clear, in public and private.
France, Spain, perhaps Italy and Portugal, could be for the work. But the rest, starting with Germany, no. Upside down. In the last decade it has been found that there is a certain abuse , generated in large part by the countries of the East, those of the last enlargement. Many requests by OED for minor offenses, which formally complied with the Framework Decision , but which in practice involved an abusive use of coordination instruments, as these files could have been resulted or addressed with less harmful measures in those claims.
Justice sources explain that for this reason, right now, the reform is a double-edged sword. When speaking of opening it, retouching it could be assumed that it is to broaden and better define the 32 crimes on the list, the part of the double criminality, but clearly it is not the orientation or the prevailing mood in the EU.
The winds that are on the subject of mutual recognition point rather in the opposite direction: if something is imposed it would be to restrict the automatism of delivery. There is debate, yes, but about whether there are countries that really respect the rule of law -Hungary and Poland in particular, but not only-, about prison conditions, whether mutual recognition is executed or not, the duration of the prison provisional.
"If the crime of rebellion is not on the list it is for something. I doubt very much that it could enter even in the best of cases. It is not a concern for absolutely anyone, except Spain. If at the time I had caught some off guard, perhaps, but now it is impossible, "diplomatic sources explain.
"If those who ask for the reform were in the meetings and saw what everyone really thinks, they would understand that it is madness and irresponsibility to jump into it," warns from Brussels a person who for more than five years has closely followed these issues .
Therefore, the vast majority of sources consulted in Brussels and Madrid consider it to be a mistake. "With a commissioner of Justice like the Belgian Reynders, with the pressure that he and his party have had these years on the part of the flamingos, and the spirit of distrust that has been imposed, and the desire to correct the excesses, would be to put them on a tray what is least convenient for us, "warns a community official.
"It shouldn't scare us"
These arguments do not convince Citizens and the PP. "In an increasingly intense way we talk about the hybrid threats, of misinformation, systemic risks when you have governments in Europe that do not believe in the liberal State and of Law. In the Euroorder, you have to introduce this category. You can be a hornet but we are moving sensitivity in a balanced way. It makes so much sense in the 21st century that if broad consensus is sought, it can be achieved. Starting the path should not be scary, "says MEP Pagazaurtundúa.
In its report, concrete proposals, such as "a homogeneous list of specific crimes, of categories or of protected legal assets, but not mixing with each other, as is the case today." Include "a definition for the purpose of identifying and specifying the scope of the category or type being regulated, allowing the identification by the Member States of the" crimes "included in the list" by means of an annex.
"The imposition on each State of the obligation to make a list in which they record the criminal types that, in their respective system, can be subsumed in the categories and descriptions that are included in the two previous sections" and, above all, " include a category referring to crimes whose protected legal good is constituted by territorial integrity, the rule of law and public order of the member states, "says the GC Legal document. What would somehow cover rebellion and sedition.
Ideas that could undoubtedly eliminate uncertainty, but have no option to pass right now. The objective of the groups is to gradually create the climate. "Sensitivity and sensitization is done by walking, working," they explain. Add supporters and form a party bloc, first from the Eurochamber and then from the rest of the institutions. "It is not going to happen, it is a debate in Spanish national code, and with the current mood and waiting for the Supreme Court ruling, the moment can not be worse," a leading Central European member of the Civil Liberties commission ditches. "And almost better for Spain."
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