Canceled pirate transfer agreement

(BRUXELLES2 - exclusive) It's a thunderclap in the fight against pirates, we wrote in our edition Club. In a judgment handed down, rather discreetly last week, the European Court of Justice has indeed decided to annul the agreement signed by the High Representative of the EU, on behalf of the European Union, with the Island Mauritius. An agreement that allows European soldiers and police to transfer pirates or suspects arrested in the Indian Ocean by ships of the EUNAVFOR Atalanta force to the Mauritian authorities for trial.

This judgment is doubly interesting because it is the first judgment on the agreements signed within the framework of the common security and defense policy. It is also the first interpretation of the new mechanism put in place by the Treaty of Lisbon which reserves a more important place for the European Parliament. For the judges, it is a question of principle, on which one cannot compromise. Even if it is an agreement signed in the name of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP), the parliamentary representation should have been informed. " This rule is the expression of the democratic principles on which the Union is foundede” indicates the Court.

As Mauritius prepares to hand down a judgment on 12 pirates transferred for having tried to capture the MSC Jasmin, the judges however did not want to "insult the future" and maintained the effects of the agreement of provisionally until a new agreement is signed. This judgment could henceforth oblige the Council and the High Representative to reconsider their position during the preparation and signature of certain agreements - in particular a similar agreement with Tanzania - or even during the Acsa agreement, in preparation with the United States ( read : I am willing to buy US. Quiet !).

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Details (Club): Thunderbolt in the fight against pirates