PURPOSE: to repeal a certain number of obsolete Union acts adopted in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and belonging to the Schengen acquis.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) 2016/94 of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing certain acts from the Schengen acquis in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

CONTENT: in the context of the better law-making strategy that the institutions of the Union are implementing, the Regulation repeals a number of acts adopted in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and belonging to the Schengen acquis are no longer relevant due to their temporary nature or because their content has been taken up by successive acts.

The Regulation repeals:

three Decisions of the Executive Committee SCH/Comex concerning: (i) combatting drug trafficking, (ii) police handbook, (iii) road traffic offences; a Declaration of the Executive Committee SCH/Com-ex (97) decl. 13 rev 2 (abduction of minors) , Council Decision 2008/173/JHA of 18 February 2018 on the tests of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

Following the notification made by the United Kingdom on 24 July 2013 in accordance with the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 10(4) of Protocol No 36 on transitional provisions, the obsolete Decisions and Declaration have ceased to apply to the United Kingdom as from 1 December 2014, pursuant to that Protocol. The United Kingdom is therefore not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application.

Denmark is not bound by Regulation or subject to its application, but that it shall decide, in accordance with Protocol No 22 annexed to the Treaties, decide within a period of six months after the Council has decided on this Regulation whether it will implement it in its national law.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 22.2.2016.

The European Parliament adopted by 618 votes to 8, with 57 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing certain acts in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

Parliament’s position adopted at first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:

Parliament proposed to change the type of act from 'decision' to 'regulation' . Moreover, the title now stipulates that the repealed acts in question are part of the Schengen acquis .

The Regulation repeals:

3 Decisions of the Executive Committee SCH/Comex concerning: combatting drug trafficking, police handbook, road traffic offences; a Declaration of the Executive Committee SCH/Com-ex (97) decl. 13 rev 2 (abduction of minors) , Council Decision 2008/173/JHA of 18 February 2018 on the tests of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

Several amendments aim at improving the drafting of the act, including an addition in the title specifying that the repealed acts in question belong to the Schengen acquis , and amendments adapting the recitals to the UK's position after the expiry of the transitional period set out in Protocol No 36 to the Treaties. The United Kingdom shall not take part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application.

In accordance with the Protocol No 22 on the position of Denmark , this country is not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application. Given that this Regulation builds upon the Schengen acquis, Denmark shall decide within a period of six months after the Council has decided on this Regulation whether it will implement it in its national law.

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Claude MORAES (S&D, UK) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing certain acts in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

The committee recommended that the position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal.

Members proposed to change the type of act from 'decision' to 'regulation' . They stressed that in accordance with the Article 288 TFEU a regulation is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States and will better serve the purpose of the proposal to repeal the acts deemed to be obsolete.

Therefore, the proposal repeals:

3 Decisions of the Executive Committee SCH/Comex (93) 14 (combatting drug trafficking), (98) 52 (police handbook), (99) 11 Rev. 2 (road traffic offences); a Declaration of the Executive Committee SCH/Com-ex (97) decl. 13 rev 2 (abduction of minors), Council Decision 2008/173/JHA of 18 February 2018 on the tests of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

The rapporteur suggests also several amendments aiming at improving the drafting of the act, including an addition in the title specifying that the repealed acts in question belong to the Schengen acquis , and amendments adapting the recitals to the UK's position after the expiry of the transitional period set out in Protocol No 36 to the Treaties.

PURPOSE: to repeal a certain number of legal measures in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters that have been identified as obsolete.

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: in its Communication of June 2014 on " Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT): State of Play and Outlook ", the Commission stated that it was screening the acquis in respect of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters in order to identify acts which could be repealed in the context of the expiry of the transitional period set out in the Treaties.

The Commission has now completed its assessment on the legal acts related to the area of freedom, security and justice, including the former third pillar acquis. They are no longer relevant because of their temporary nature or because their content has been taken up by successive acts.

CONTENT: for reasons of legal certainty and clarity, the proposal seeks to repeal 4 legal measures , adopted in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters that have been identified as obsolete.