Plugging Britain into EU security is not that simple by Camino Mortera-Martinez
Brexiters seem to think that negotiating a bespoke arrangement with the EU on police and judicial co-operation will be a breeze. Donald Trump’s election has boosted their enthusiasm. Trump’s suggestions on how to fight crime and terrorism (by torturing or deporting suspects) are unpalatable to most European nations. If he implemented them, Europe would need to cut some ties with America; and Leavers think that Brexit talks on law enforcement co-operation would be easier if the EU needed to find a reliable security ally closer to home. But, as often, Brexiters overlook the EU’s legal and political reality: in most cases, the British government should be prepared to accept much less generous terms than it currently enjoys. EU justice and home affairs (JHA) is a highly regulated area. Britain’s partners may be more willing to plug the British into JHA than they may be to offer a special deal on the single market. But the UK should not over-estimate what EU partners can offer: they may not be able to overcome domestic legal barriers to cooperating with a non-EU country. There are three areas of particular importance in the EU’s fight against trans-national crime: extradition, access to databases and police co-operation. Since 2004, extradition procedures between EU countries have been simplified by the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), which has made prosecuting European criminals easier
and faster. There is no extradition treaty in the world allowing for such a degree of cooperation between countries: among other things, the EAW has lifted the constitutional ban some EU countries have on extraditing their own nationals. Britain cannot be part of the EAW, as it is only open to EU countries. If the UK wanted to get a similar deal with the EU, it would need to convince its partners to change their constitutions. In some cases, this would trigger a referendum. It is difficult to see why other EU member-states would go to such pains to accommodate Britain’s demands, especially in the current political environment. Securing access to Schengen databases (like the Schengen Information System, which contains information on lost identity documents and