EU ministers try to work out anti-terror EU evidence warrant

Photo: EU ministers try to work out anti-terror EU evidence warrant

EU diplomats said the Netherlands and Germany still opposed setting up a European Evidence Warrant, a measure meant to streamline and speed up cross-border sharing of evidence such as fingerprints or photos used in police investigations.

Germany wants more specific details on definitions of crimes, arguing that such a warrant could only work if all 25 EU judicial authorities work with the same definitions.

EU ministers have for months struggled to agree on the new warrant, agreeing on common definitions of 32 serious criminal offenses - such as murder or acts of terror - for which the evidence warrant could be used.

Diplomats said Germany could be given an opt-out of the warrant as a way to get a deal, the AP reports.

Meanwhile the Netherlands wants the right to refuse evidence requests from other nations, fearing it will be swamped with requests. EU diplomats said Dutch authorities fear an overload of cases of drug smuggling and money laundering.

EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini was also to debrief ministers on how to salvage a contentious passenger security deal with Washington after the EU's high court on Tuesday ruled the deal was illegal.

EU governments were given until Sept. 30 to fix the agreement,  which Washington says is key to its anti-terror legislation.