Sweden may block EU arrest warrant and terror laws
The big conservative party in Sweden, Moderaterna, is blocking the adoption of the EU framework decision on terrorism and a common arrest warrant. According to the party, the rule of law is threatened when politicians have no way of knowing what they are legislating
Pig in the poke
"We will not vote for something of which we do not know the consequences. There is a possibility that we may end up voting for the EU framework decisions, but not until the consequent Swedish legislation is in order. That would be buying the pig in the poke," says Fredrik Reinfeldt from Moderaterna, president of the legal committee in Riksdagen, the Swedish parliament.
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His party is the second biggest, and without its votes there is no majority in favour of the two framework decisions, as the Greens and the Left are already against. This means that Prime Minister Göran Persson (Social Democrat) may be forced to block a decision requiring unanimity among the member states.
No rush just to keep the EU system happy
To the government's accusation that the blocking is incomprehensible, Fredrik Reinfeldt answers: "The decision must be made in December but will only be law in the member states from December 2003. This means that there is ample time. Now the minister of justice must present the proposal for laws that the framework decisions require. But we should not make our decision in order to keep the EU system happy. If this causes problems for the government, it is because it has omitted to tell that it has not got a parliamentary majority behind it," he says to EUobserver.dk.
A question of Sweden remaining under the rule of law
Fredrik Reinfeldt points to two aspects of the framework decisions which he finds doubtful. One is the line of demarcation for terrorism:
"The definition is vague. Among other things we have with assistance from Denmark brought about that demonstrators, shall not be considered to be terrorists, even if they go too far. But this is only a preamble text. We want to know the legal status of this wording before we see it incorporated in Swedish law."
The European arrest warrant may give rise to another problem, according to Mr Reinfeldt: "Today we are 15 member countries, but already next year we may admit 10 more. We need to know whether the conditions in prisons in, for example, Lithuania are of a nature that we can give up Swedish citizens. Fundamentally it is a question of Sweden remaining under the rule of law."
Towards common European legal system
Moderaterna is by tradition Sweden's conservative party, but in practice they belong in the Liberal camp. The party is the second biggest in Sweden after the Social Democrats, and for many years its attitude to the EU has been positive, not least under the influence of the former party leader and prime minister, Carl Bildt.
But now they are asking: "Are we going to have a common European legal system, such as the Commission proposes in its Green Book? This is a debate that will also be brought to the agenda in connection with the Convention and a future Catalogue of Competences. It looks as if this will be the next thing that we are going to decide on," Fredrik Reinfeldt predicts.