The Diplomat
Javier Zarzalejos, MEP (PP), was given the task of drawing up a proposal to revise the European arrest warrant, the EU’s main instrument for judicial cooperation to combat serious crime. The intention is for the revision to be approved in 2020 by the European Parliament, which will then send it to the European Commission.
The decision was taken by the Conference of Presidents, the political body of the European Parliament made up of the leaders of the different political groups and the President of the EP, after the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, where the revision of the European arrest warrant will be processed, assigned this dossier to the group of the European People’s Party (EPP).
The aim of the revision of the European arrest warrant is, as indicated by the EPP group in a communiqué, “to improve its application and correct the shortcomings detected since its creation in 2004”. “It is necessary to work on improving the procedure for executing the European arrest warrant, because a deficient application can lead to cases of impunity such as that of Carles Puigdemont”, said Zarzalejos, who during his time in the government of José María Aznar was one of the main promoters of the European arrest warrant.
