Opinion: UK should support plans to shape future EU justice policy

By Catherine Feore

The European Commission has decided to take stock of progress made in the field of justice policy and identify the main priorities for the next seven years. To this end, the Commission is organising the 'Assises de la Justice' forum on 21-22 November, a two-day conference that will bring together judges, lawyers, scholars, policymakers and business representatives from across Europe. On the agenda are five discussion papers on European civil, criminal and administrative law, as well as papers on the rule of law and fundamental rights in the EU.

Since 2010, the EU has brought forward more than 50 initiatives in the area of justice policy. Major steps have been taken, including new EU rights for victims of crime, easier recognition of judgements reducing red tape in cross-border disputes and, most recently, new proposals to guarantee rights to lawyer access.

The UK’s Home Secretary Theresa May announced in 2012 that she was “minded to leave most forms of European police and justice co-operation” and the UK is thought likely to do so in 2014. This may seem surprising to those who see the UK as a staunch defender of the single market –businesses operating in different jurisdictions need to have the confidence to invest and should be able to do so with some degree of legal certainty. Businesses operate most effectively in other countries when those countries have legal processes that are fair, transparent, non-corrupt, timely, and efficiently administered. Shouldn’t the UK be actively supporting co-operation in the field of justice, rather than shunning it?

It’s also difficult to understand why the UK wouldn’t want rules that ensure that EU citizens live in an area of Justice, where they can legitimately expect that their lives, safety and security were to be protected against crime and that their fundamental rights respected – whether as victims or defendants? More than 300,000 British citizens are working outside the UK but, within the EU, more than another million British people have chosen to retire outside the UK but remain within the EU. In addition, millions of British holidaymakers travel to France, Spain and other destinations in the EU each year – surely, a basic framework of rights negotiated on a European basis rather than a state-by-state series of bilateral agreements is in the UK’s interest?

Some of the areas outlined should be welcomed, particularly by the business community. Concerning civil and administrative justice, the EU want to tackle the need for efficient enforcement of judgments, which is currently seen as the ‘Achilles heel’ of civil judicial co-operation’. The credibility of EU law depends on the end result of the judicial process, for example, the recovery of money due or the speedy return of a child. For this purpose, efficient and swift procedures need to be in place meeting minimum standards set at European level. These standards should ensure that citizens and businesses have effective means at their disposal to protect their rights pending enforcement (e.g. temporary freezing of assets, transparency of debtor’s assets).

By having a European area of justice, the EU can strengthen EU countries rights in international fora. Rather than only the UK requesting a basic level of legal certainty, a European voice representing more than 500 million consumers has the power to set standards that benefit companies and EU citizens. The Argentinian government’s decision to expropriate the majority stake held by Spanish company Repsol in YPF, the largest oil producer in Argentina, was a classic asset grab. Commissioner Tajani pointed out at the time that this negative signal would “seriously harm the business environment in Argentina [and create] legal insecurity not only for the Spanish company Repsol but also for other EU firms”. While this type of 'moral suasion' and the threat to introduce new clauses to Argentina’s EU bilateral trade agreement are helpful, how much more effective would it be if the EU could work in global fora to prohibit discrimination and adequate compensation in the event of this sort of event taking place again?

Catherine Feore is the managing director of Orpheus Public Affairs.

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