The evolution of European Union criminal law (1957-2012)

This operational drive arose strongly from several documents issued by Interior
Ministers along with several police forces. The Declaration of the Belgian Presidency in
1987, for example, approved the constitution of an international exchange of
information on thefts and discoveries of arms and explosives for terrorist purposes and
approved a procedure for evaluating terrorist threats in the EC Member States. 177
Moreover, it allowed for drug liaison officers posted in third countries to be used for the
benefit of the EC and agreed on the continuation of work on special enquiry methods for
illegal drug trafficking. 178 Likewise, the Palma Document, a Declaration drawn up by
the ‘Coordinators Group on the Free movement of persons’ distributed the work
throughout the numerous groups created within and outside the Trevi structure and
called for the adoption of measures in a wide range of topics from terrorism, to drugs,
immigration, visas and control of external borders (see below, for more details). It
incentivised the adoption of measures that would
“…involve closer cooperation between the Member States’ law enforcement authorities
and agencies, and an improved system for exchanging information.” 179 It also called for
measures on the “intensification of the exchange of information about the removal of
citizens of third countries which represent a possible terrorist danger to security”; 180 for
a “permanent exchange of information concerning known members of and activities of
terrorist groups”; 181
for the intensification of coordination between police forces; 182 for the establishment of a
public registry of false documents, explosives, detonators, and other information which
could strengthened the fight against terrorism; 183 and the creation of a common system
for the identification of wanted persons. 184 Furthermore, it also asked Member States to
create or designate a central authority responsible for transmitting and receiving
extradition requests and called for the ratification of the European Convention on
Extradition by those Member States who had not yet done so, 185 among other measures.
177 Trevi Ministers, ‘Declaration of the Belgian Presidency’, Brussels 28 April 1987, Section II B,
in T. Bunyan, Key Texts in Justice and Home Affairs, supra note 141.
178 Trevi Ministers, ‘Declaration of the Belgian Presidency’, ibid., section II C.
179 Coordinators’ Group, ‘’The Palma Document’ Free Movement of Persons, A Report to the
European Council by the Coordinators’ Group, Madrid, June 1989, Section A (b), supra note
175, 12-16.
180 Section IV, A (1), ibid..
181 Section IV, A (2), ibid..
182 Section IV, A (3), ibid..
183 Section IV, A (4), ibid..
184 Section IV, A (5), ibid..
185 Section VIII (1) and (4), ibid..
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