My Honourable Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism and Heritage (Tracey Crouch) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. On 2 March 2015, the European Commission brought forward proposals for two Decisions authorising the EU to sign the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions on behalf of Member States. One Decision related to betting and sport, while the other Decision related to Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) (the “JHA Decision”) covering matters related to cooperation in criminal matters and police cooperation.
The JHA Decision cites a legal base in Title V of part III of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and recognises that the UK’s JHA Opt-In applies. The Convention requires the provision in national law of criminal offences and provisions on cooperation in enforcement as well as provision (which is derogable) for extraterritorial enforcement.
Based on the JHA Decision presented by the European Commission, the Government is concerned that opting in will have the potential to prevent the UK from derogating from the extraterritoriality provision. The Government believes that the UK should retain the flexibility to derogate. Taking this into account, the Government decided not to opt in to the European Commission’s JHA proposed Decision.
These proposals are still being negotiated between the European Commission and Member States with no current date scheduled for adoption.
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