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Press release
Freezing of terrorists' bank accounts: MEPs want to have their say
Justice and home affairs - 16-12-2009 - 12:38
Plenary sessions
Plenary sessions
Any future measures to freeze bank accounts of people linked to Al-Qaida must allow those individuals a right to defend themselves and must also be approved by the European Parliament, said MEPs in a resolution adopted on Wednesday. They also demanded to be consulted on any future "restrictive measures" against individuals who pose a threat to the rule of law in Zimbabwe and Somalia.
The Parliament resolution looks at three measures put forward by the Commission following a ruling by the Court of Justice in September 2008 which struck down the EU regulation in force since 2002 on restrictive measures. In the judgment "Kadi and Al Barakaat International Foundation v. Council and Commission", the court ruled that the regulation violated fundamental rights, in particular the right of legal defence.
The resolution was drafted by Emine Bozkurt (S&D, NL), Louis Michel (ALDE, BE) and Michèle Striffler (EPP, FR).
Sanctions against Al-Qaeda: Parliament must have its say
On the first Commission proposal, for sanctions (such as freezing bank accounts) against people and entities linked to Osama bin Laden, the Al-Qaida network and the Taleban, MEPs argued that the ordinary legislative procedure - which gives Parliament a full say in the adoption of the legislation - should be used. Any measures taken must also be accompanied by safeguards and guarantees. They point out that the blacklisting procedures for the UN and EU sanctions regimes have been criticised. The effectiveness of the EU and UN ‘terrorist’ sanctions regimes should be assessed, say MEPs, since they appear to have had an adverse effect on conflict resolution and development efforts in numerous regions.
Zimbabwe and Somalia: proposals must be made by EU high representative
Turning to future measures against Zimbabwe and Somalia, for which the EU's external action policy will be the legal basis, MEPs call for Parliament to be consulted and, as with anti-terrorism sanctions, for an assessment of the effectiveness of such measures and of whether the grounds for imposing them still apply.
They support the aim of the Commission's proposals but question whether they meet the concerns raised by the Court of Justice. They also believe that such measures should be based on a proposal from the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and must include legal safeguards.
Data protection
Lastly, MEPs stress that any data transferred to non-EU countries must be adequately protected and that the people and entities concerned should be kept as fully informed as possible about such data transfers. They also call for a general legal framework on data protection to be adopted as soon as possible.
REF.: 20091215IPR66439