Criminal justice and the EU
Yesterday in the Commons the Home Secretary told us she wished to opt into part of the EU plans for criminal justice, as the Uk is entitled to do under Lisbon. She presented the European Investigatory Orders Directive as a necessary tidying up or simplification of current arrangements to deal with cross border cases with no extra power passing to the EU.
I proposed to her that she should negotiate into the draft Directive a simple clause giving the Uk the right to leave the arrangement again should it not prove to be as good as she plans. The truth is you cease to be sovereign in a particular area if your future actions require the consent of a majority of other member states to make changes. Other Conservative MPs pressed her on what powers the EU and police from other member states would gain over us. She promised to avoid accretions of power in these sensitive areas in the subsequent negotiations. Labour was quick to give her their full backing.
These matters are currently handled through legal agreements which could themselves be simplified and improved without involving more centralised EU powers.