The Justice and Home Affairs Council will be held on 4-5 December in Brussels. The Home Secretary and I will attend on behalf of the Home Office and the Attorney-General and Baroness Ashton will also attend on behalf of the UK.

There will be a public debate on the Hague programme review following debate at the September and October Councils. The presidency will also present its conclusions, which are currently under negotiation. The UK believes that the Hague programme has been a success as evidenced by agreements such as the European arrest warrant and the counter-terrorism strategy. We have debated proposals for changing decision making procedures and whilst supporting the need for effective evaluation and decision making we consider that the debate has indicated quite clearly that there is little appetite for using the passerelle at this stage and on that basis we think the current debate is effectively over. We should instead focus our energy on delivering practical measures that make a real difference to the safety and security of our citizens.

We expect the Council to agree the framework decision on taking account of convictions in the course of new criminal proceedings. The framework decision will create an obligation on member states to ensure that judges can take into account previous foreign convictions in the same way that they would take into account previous domestic convictions when sentencing an offender or making decisions on pre-trial supervision. The Government would welcome agreement on this instrument as they attach considerable importance to the whole package of measures on the exchange and recognition of convictions.

The presidency hopes to agree a general approach on the prisoner transfer framework decision, which would simplify and speed up the process of transferring prisoners between member states. Some member states have concerns on the issue of prisoner consent, however the UK believes that the package adds considerable added value over and above existing prisoner transfer arrangements.

The presidency will be looking for agreement that work should continue on a draft framework decision on certain procedural rights in criminal proceedings in the EU. The UK believes that a binding EU measure on criminal procedural rights is not needed as the proposal offers no new benefits to citizens over what the ECHR already guarantees. The UK, in co-operation with other members states, has proposed a draft political resolution that advocates practical measures member states could take to enhance compliance with ECHR standards.

The presidency will be seeking political agreement on the proposal establishing the Fundamental Rights Agency, the proposal authorising the European Commission to negotiate a co-operation agreement between the Council of Europe and the agency and the proposal establishing a Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme for the period 2007-13. The UK supports these proposals providing they are confined within the scope of community law and providing all references to the charter are adequately clarified.

The Commission will give presentations on its communications on the implementation of the follow-up to Hampton Court/Global Approach to migration and on reinforcing the management of the EU’s southern maritime border.

Implementation of the Schengen acquis will be discussed under both the main agenda and in mixed committee, the various aspects being: the draft Council conclusions on the state of preparedness of the ten new member states towards implementation; the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II); SIS one4all; and a calendar for Schengen evaluation of the new member states in 2007. The UK welcomes the progress that has been made by the new member states towards implementing the Schengen acquis. While we understand the difficulties that delays to implementation of SIS II will cause them and will not oppose the proposal to connect them to SIS 1+ through the SISOne4all project, we have stressed the importance that any decision to proceed with this project is based on a full assessment of risks and benefits as well as the political imperative to meet the original Schengen timetable.

Third country nationals’ visa exemptions will also be discussed under the main agenda and in mixed committee. The UK does not participate in Regulation (EC) 539/2001 (The Common Visa List) and will not be participating in the application of this amendment; a general approach is due to be agreed at the Council. The proposal will enable holders of British National (Overseas) passports, British nationals with the right of free movement and British Overseas Territories Citizens/British Subjects to enjoy visa free access to the Schengen States. The UK continues to support the Commission and the Schengen states in their wish to include other categories of British nationals who cannot be considered EU nationals on the common visa list.

The presidency will be seeking agreement to the rapid response and preparedness instrument. The question of whether community finance should be available for the hire of civil protection equipment and transport of civil protection assistance to disasters remains outstanding. While strongly supportive of an effective and efficient EU disaster response capability, the UK has opposed these measures, arguing that this blurs the role of member states’ responsibility for civil protection. The UK has been successful in narrowing the scope of the proposals, however some concerns remain.

The presidency is seeking agreement to a new set of Council conclusions on the future of Europol, which agree that the Europol convention is replaced by a Council decision, set out its broad parameters and establish a roadmap for its negotiation. This will enable detailed negotiations on the legal framework to be commenced during the German presidency. The UK is supportive in principle of measures to make Europol’s legal instrument more flexible; we should be cautious not to widen Europol’s mandate to include serious crime which is not organised. To do so, would result in it spreading its resources too thinly, reducing its ability to add value in its core functions. The Commission will table a draft Council decision to replace the Europol convention. This would be subject to a detailed assessment and further approval by Ministers during the German presidency.

The EU action plan on best practices, standards and procedures for combating and preventing trafficking in human beings will also be discussed, focusing on the current state of play and the need for further action. The UK welcomes the presidency initiative to take stock of progress and would now like to see real progress on the action plan.

The counter-terrorism co-ordinator’s report on the implementation of the EU counter-terrorism strategy and of the EU action plan on radicalisation and recruitment will be discussed. The UK welcomes the continued focus on the effective delivery of these, as essential to the EU’s counter-terrorism work, both at EU level and nationally by member states. We support this regular report on the implementation of both the EU CT strategy and action plan (six-monthly) and the EU radicalisation and recruitment strategy and action plan (annually).

The Council conclusions on the South-east European Co-operative Initiative (SECI) will be discussed. The UK supports the draft conclusions and welcomes the increased law enforcement co-ordination in South-east Europe.

The report on the implementation of the strategy for the external dimension of JHA will be presented. The UK appreciates the report and looks forward to the external relations strategy being taken forward over the coming months. The Government are particularly keen to work with other member states, Europol, Frontex and the Commission to implement the recommendations from the various action oriented papers.

There are two AOB items on the agenda. These are a public deliberation on the state of play of the European evidence warrant for obtaining objects documents and data for use in criminal proceedings and the state of play of European contract law will also be discussed. On European contract law, the Commission annual progress report on the contract law project is about to be published. It is hoped that this will give information on the future direction of the project. A Green Paper on the review of the consumer acquis is also awaited.

As mentioned above the mixed Committee will discuss the implementation of the Schengen acquis and the Council regulation on visa exemptions for third country nationals.

The data protection framework decision is also on the mixed committee agenda. The UK supports the principle of the DPFD but there is more work to be done before agreement can be reached. Several member states support the UK on this.