Considerations on COM(2023)56 - EU position vis-a-vis the United Kingdom regarding the establishment of a standard form for requests for mutual assistance on law enforcement and legal cooperation

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dossier COM(2023)56 - EU position vis-a-vis the United Kingdom regarding the establishment of a standard form for requests for mutual assistance on ...
document COM(2023)56 EN
date May  4, 2023
 
(1) Title VIII of Part Three of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (‘the Trade and Cooperation Agreement’) 3 supplements the provisions, and facilitates the application between Member States, on the one side, and the United Kingdom, on the other side, of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, done at Strasbourg on 20 April 1959, the Additional Protocol to the European Mutual Assistance Convention, done at Strasbourg on 17 March 1978, and the Second Additional Protocol to the European Mutual Assistance Convention, done at Strasbourg on 8 November 2001.

(2) The Council, on a proposal from the Commission, is to adopt a decision establishing the positions to be adopted on the Union's behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects. The Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation is a body set up by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

(3) Pursuant to Article 635(1) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation is to undertake to establish a standard form for requests for mutual assistance by adopting an annex to that agreement. If the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation has adopted such a decision, requests for mutual assistance are to be made using the standard form, in accordance with Article 635(2) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

(4) The Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation is to establish the standard form for requests for mutual assistance under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement by adopting an annex to that Agreement.

(5) The standard form for requests for mutual assistance will facilitate mutual assistance between competent authorities in the Member States, on the one side, and the United Kingdom, on the other side, by indicating all necessary information a request should contain.

(6) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation.

(7) The Trade and Cooperation Agreement is binding on all the Member States by virtue of Decision (EU) 2021/689, which is based on Article 217 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as its substantive legal basis.

(8) Denmark and Ireland are bound by Part Three of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement by virtue of Decision (EU) 2021/689 and are therefore taking part in the adoption and application of this Decision which implements the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.