[ARTICLE 27a]

SINGLE MARKET:

UNION GAINS NEW LEGAL BASIS FOR DECIDING ON CRIMINAL LAW MEASURES IN= THE UK TO STRENGTHEN EU CUSTOMS COOPERATION

[ARTICLE 27a]

AMENDMENT TO: Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and t= he Treaty establishing the European Community (Lisbon, 13 December 2007)<= /span>

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Policy Area: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Part Three Policies and Internal Actions of the Union, Chap= ter 1a, Customs cooperation, Article 27a

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Amendment:<= /o:p>

Clause 2, page 1= , line 12, after ‘excluding’, insert—

‘(i) Arti= cle 2, paragraphs 40 to to 45 , inserted Title I and Articles 22a and 22b, renumbered Title Ia, amen= ded Article 23(1), inserted Chapter Ia and Article = 27a TEC (TFEU) relating to the internal market; and

(ii)’.

Amendment:<= /o:p>

Clause 2, page 1= , line 12, after ‘excluding’, insert—

‘(i) Arti= cle 2, paragraphs 112 and 113, relating to the moving of Title IX TEC (TFEU) (Comm= on Commercial Policy) and Title X TEC (TFEU) (Customs Cooperation); and

(ii)’.

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<= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Lisb= on Treaty: =

“45) A Chapter Ia enti= tled "CUSTOMS COOPERATION" shall be inserted after Article 27, and an Article 27a shall be inserted with the wording of Article 135, the last sentence of that Article being deleted.”

Consolidated Treaty Article(s):

“TITLE X

CUS= TOMS COOPERATION

Article 135=

Within the scope of applicati= on of this Treaty, the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referr= ed to in Article 251, shall take measures in order to strengthen customs cooperation between Member States and between the latter and the Commission. These measures shall not concern the application of national criminal law or the national administration of justice.”

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Expl= anation:

Under the Lisbon Treaty, for = the first time, the European Parliament jointly with the Council will be allowe= d to adopt criminal law measures in order to strengthen customs cooperation betw= een Member States. Under Lisbon, Title X Customs Cooperation has moved and Article 135 has become Article 27= a. The Lisbon Treaty has changed the wording so that the sentence “the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251” will be replaced with "the European Parliament and the Coun= cil [shall], acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure", and the words "procedure referred to in Article 251" shall be replaced with "ordinary legislative procedure.” Nevertheless, measures concerning customs cooperation will be continue to be decided by t= he Council acting by QMV and by the European Parliament. The Lisbon Treaty has deleted the last sentence of present Article 135 which states that “T= hese measures shall not concern the application of national criminal law or the national administration of justice.” This means, that, under the Lisb= on Treaty, the European Parliament jointly with the Council will be allowed to adopt criminal law measures “in order to strengthen customs cooperati= on between Member States and between the latter and the Commission.”

Such measures will be dealt u= nder Chapter 4 on judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The European Court of Justice = has ruled that the Community has competence under the EC Treaty for adopted criminal law measures when they are necessary for the implementation of Community objectives. The Lisbon Treaty has provided the Union with a legal basis to adopt criminal law measures. This represents a significant transfer of sovereign powers over criminal law from the Member States to the Union.