Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask and Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billström represented the Swedish EU Presidency in a debate on the Stockholm Programme held in the European Parliament on Tuesday.

“The vision of the Stockholm Programme is a safer and more open Europe where individual citizens are protected”, said Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask in her opening address.

The Stockholm Programme defines the framework for EU police and customs cooperation, rescue services, criminal and civil law cooperation, asylum, migration and visa policy for the period 2010–2014.

“The programme can be summarised in two parts. One part concerns cooperation across borders and more effective measures against cross-border crime. The second part concerns making it easier for citizens to move across borders and bringing the legal system closer and improving quality”, said Beatrice Ask.

European Parliament co-legislator

Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billström spoke about the aspects of the Stockholm Programme related to asylum and migration issues.

“Managed well, migration can benefit everyone – not just the EU countries, but also for the individuals who migrate and their countries of origin. If we are to reach the goal of becoming a dynamic and growing economy, we will have to be open to migration”, said Mr Billström.
Representing the Commission was Commissioner Jacques Barrot, responsible for justice, freedom and security.

“The Stockholm Programme is a pragmatic instrument that will have to be implemented by the Spanish Presidency. And you parliamentarians will become co-legislators”, said Mr Barrot.

With the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Parliament’s influence on the legislative process will increase, making the Parliament jointly responsible for the implementation of large parts of the Stockholm Programme.

“The strengthened role of the European Parliament will lead to increased democratic control”, said Tobias Billström.

Praise and blame

In the debate, the Stockholm Programme was subjected to both praise and blame. Some of the MEPs were concerned that information exchange between countries may lead to information coming into the wrong hands. Other MEPs were worried that  the programme would create more of a surveillance society. Others again thought it was too general.

“Of course a five-year programme cannot be detailed. We are not writing paragraphs here. Described here are the overarching ambitions and frameworks, and that is extensive enough. Also included are protection of privacy and respect for the rights of the individual. The programme also proposes that the Commission should investigate how we can reinforce the protection of personal data”, said Beatrice Ask after the debate.
 

But the programme also received broad support in the European Parliament. Ambitious, positive with equality before the law and better opportunities to combat cross-border crime were some of the positive comments made by the MEPs.

“It is good that there is such interest and commitment. I would have liked to have had more time to answer and debate each remark more thoroughly”, said Beatrice Ask after the debate.

The Stockholm Programme is to be discussed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council next week and then adopted at the European Council on 10–11 December.