The Spanish presidency of the Council of Ministers has come in for some less-than-complimentary comment in your pages of late. I would just like to redress the balance a little, through praise for Spain’s leadership in securing unanimous agreement within the Council of Ministers and with the European Parliament on a directive on language rights for criminal suspects and defendants, for which I was proud to be the Parliament’s rapporteur.

This text came into law with its approval in the Parliament’s plenary session on 16 June. It is the first measure to be agreed under the Lisbon treaty extension to criminal justice of ‘co-decision’ between national governments and MEPs.

It is also the first-ever EU law on the subject of defence rights and fair-trial safeguards, complementing (even if, in the Parliament’s eyes, belatedly) the European Arrest Warrant fast-track extradition system. People arrested, questioned and tried will in future have EU-guaranteed rights to professional interpretation and translation, significantly raising the standard of justice.

The European Commission made a very strong contribution to the successful outcome of negotiations, not only through its legislative proposal, but in particular through vice-president Viviane Reding’s demonstrable commitment to this project, and the expert and wise counsel of her officials in our three-way ‘trilogues’.

But I believe that the skill and advocacy of the Spanish presidency not only enabled a rapid Council-Parliament agreement, but also helped nudge the member states towards a more ambitious outcome than might otherwise have been the case.

On this very important and historic legislative project, Spain, alongside Reding, did the EU proud.

From:

Sarah Ludford MEP

Brussels