The fight against crime and terrorism should be underpinned by a
new security treaty between the UK and EU after Brexit, the
Government will propose tomorrow [MONDAY].
A treaty would provide a legal basis for continued security, law
enforcement and criminal justice cooperation once we have exited
the EU, the UK Government will explain in a new future
partnership paper.
In the face of ever-growing and increasingly cross-border
threats, Britain wants to carry on and intensify this type of
collaboration and agree a new framework for continued working.
The UK will say it wants this new treaty to:
- Establish mechanisms to maintain operational capabilities
between the UK, the EU and its Member States;
- Be underpinned by the UK and EU’s shared principles,
including a high standard of data protection and the safeguarding
of human rights;
- Ensure the UK-EU relationship can be kept versatile and
dynamic enough to respond to the ever-changing threat
environment; and
- Provide for appropriate dispute resolution.
Co-operation will need to move to be on a new basis following the
UK’s withdrawal from the EU. In moving to any new agreement, the
paper will say that both the UK and the EU would benefit from
ensuring that no operational gaps are created by the change from
one set of arrangements to another.
The UK believes the right approach is to explore and design this
new model of security collaboration with the EU, as part of our
wider discussions on the deep and special partnership.
Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union said:
"Effective international cooperation is absolutely crucial for
both the UK and the EU if we are to keep our citizens safe and
bring criminals to justice.
“We already have a deep level of collaboration with the EU on
security matters and it is in both our interests to find ways to
maintain it. We approach negotiations on our future special
partnership with the EU as as an opportunity to build on our
existing achievements.
“A new security treaty with the EU would be underpinned by our
shared principles, and should make sure our partnership has the
agility to respond to the ever-changing threats we face.”
Home Secretary said:
“Recent events in the UK and across Europe have shown the
criminal and terrorist threats we face are varied and
increasingly international. The long-standing collaboration we
have with our European partners allows us to jointly address
these threats and keep our citizens safe.
“As we prepare to leave the EU it is therefore vital that we
agree a new way to ensure continued security, law enforcement and
criminal justice cooperation.”
Britain is one of the leading EU contributors to the development
of a wide range of collaborative measures designed to build
security.
These include:
- Mechanisms to facilitate the sharing of data such as
information on wanted criminals and people of interest travelling
around the EU;
- The streamlining of practical cooperation processes such as
the sharing of evidence and extradition of suspects; and
- Participation in crime-fighting agencies including Europol.
Establishing a framework for future cooperation will help to
support law enforcement agencies in the UK and across Europe in
their task of keeping citizens safe.
The paper will call for a comprehensive model for cooperation
between the UK and EU on security, law enforcement and criminal
justice — reflecting that Britain’s operational processes and
data sharing systems are already uniquely aligned with those of
the EU and its Member States.
