EU Anti-Trafficking Directive
Strasbourg, 14 December 2010
An EU anti-trafficking directive adopted today by MEPs will help provide cross-border solutions to a life-destroying cross-border problem. The parliament adopted the proposals under a 'first reading agreement' between the parliament and the Council of Ministers, which means it will now become law.
I previously had major concerns about this directive, particularly the extension of extra-territorial jurisdiction, which goes far beyond the principle of cooperation. For this reason, the UK government exercised its right to opt-out. However, many of the sticking points were ironed out of the proposals by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
People trafficking will only be combated if all nations work together at the highest levels to prevent it. Current EU legislation is simply out of date and far from effective.
The UK was right to exercise its opt-out of this directive when it was first proposed. It would have given other EU nations far too many powers regarding our internal law enforcement matters. To their credit, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of Ministers has negotiated a directive that focuses on cross-border cooperation to prevent trafficking, rather than on excessive harmonisation.
It is still not perfect but the directive we have now is far better than the original proposal and, on balance, we felt that the human benefits would outweigh the concerns that we had.
