Proposition 52K0489

Projet de loi portant assentiment à l'Accord entre l'Union européenne, la Communauté européenne et la Confédération suisse sur l'association de la Confédération suisse à la mise en oeuvre, à l'application et au développement de l'acquis de Schengen, et à l'Acte final, faits à Luxembourg le 26 octobre 2004.

General information ¶

Submitted by

The Senate

Submission date

Nov. 6, 2007

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

Schengen Agreement Switzerland cross-border cooperation international agreement

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA LDD MR

Abstained from voting

FN VB

Contact form ¶

Do you have a question or request regarding this proposition? Select the most appropriate option for your request and I will get back to you shortly.

Discussion ¶

Dec. 13, 2007 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Colleagues, the committee discussed this draft law on consent, which was transmitted by the Senate, during its meeting of 4 December 2007. There were a lot of comments about the procedure.

Mr Van den Eynde wondered to what extent the process of consent to a treaty, and its ratification, are affected by the fact that only the ongoing matters are handled. He referred to the question of the Conference of Presidents of 6 November 2007, in which the signing of the future Lisbon Treaty – which is being signed today, but I don’t know whether it is already signed at this time – would fall into the ongoing affairs on the basis of an interplay of elements not all present in this draft law on consent. He referred in particular to the absence of a multilateral agreed emergency framework in this consent law.

Mr Deseyn also made a comment. He asked the government for clarity regarding the power to conclude treaties in periods where only ongoing matters are dealt with. Colleague Deseyn said that authority should not vary from case to case in any case. He referred to the dossier of the cross-border cooperation within the framework of the Eurometropolis Rijsel-Kortrijk-Doornik, in which the ongoing cases were used to prove that the consent procedure could not be successfully completed so far.

In response to these procedural observations, the representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that it appears, from the opinions obtained by the Government before it submitted this draft law of consent for discussion in the Senate, that one can indeed continue in a period of ongoing affairs, since the preliminary draft was approved in the Council of Ministers on 27 April 2007, that is, before the resignation of the Government. At the end of this procedure, with 11 votes against 2 it was decided to proceed with the discussion of this Bill of Consent.

As regards the presentation itself, Mr Van Quickenborne referred to the memorandum of explanation which is also included in the document already approved in the Senate. In the general discussion of the Consent Act, several speakers spoke. Their speeches were positive, for several reasons.

Mr. Moriau referred to the various Swiss democratic parties that regarded the European cooperation within the Schengen area, in order to extend the Schengen area to Switzerland, as a way of fighting against the ironish and racist discourse that is increasingly heard in the Swiss federal state. Mr Deseyn pointed out the positive practical consequences of customs formalities. Mr Brotcorne referred to the progress made in the fight against human trafficking. Only colleague de Donnea wondered to what extent such a treaty could undermine Switzerland’s incentives to join or not join the Union.

Colleagues, this Bill of Consent was approved with 11 votes in favor and 2 abstentions.

First of all, I would like to thank the rapporteur for her very good and detailed report. We have indeed had a good discussion in the committee on whether the approval of a treaty in Parliament is part of the ongoing affairs. We have decided that this is the case, because the present treaty is a very important step forward in our cooperation with Switzerland. The draft law ensures the transposition of the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the manner in which Switzerland is involved in the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis.

It is very difficult to speak here. I suggest that people go to the coffee room, but the speaker serves to speak to the meeting from there, and those who sit there hear to listen.

Attention to Mrs Vautmans.

Until now, Switzerland has entered into bilateral agreements with its neighbors in the field of police and customs cooperation. This approach is in fact not enough to act against the new forms of crime. With the present draft, we aim to take important steps with Switzerland towards the gradual abolition of controls at the common borders, more judicial cooperation in the field of fighting drug trafficking, more uniformity in terms of visas, the fight against illegal immigration, cross-border police cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

The adoption of the treaty can therefore be seen as a step towards the integration of Switzerland into Europe. The Swiss are, of course, free – colleague De Croo, you have also emphasized this during our work – to stick to their desire for autonomy. In any case, it is a good thing for police and customs cooperation that we will approve the convention today. The Open Vld group will then vote in favour of the bill.