one present on the Justice and Home Affairs committee approved the proposal with
minor changes (some of which made the law more strict). Not surprisingly, the MEPs
from Germany, where the hate speech laws are quite strong, had little problem with the
However, certain institutional features of the EU and national political situations
gave Member States opposed to the framework decision advantages in negotiations,
notably in the European Council, which represents the Member States’ interests in the
EU.
First, the framework decision was in the Justice and Home Affairs directorate,
which is in the third pillar of the European Union. This requires unanimous agreement
on proposed laws, and thus gives Member States who are critical of the proposal a
stronger position. As noted in a UK House of Lords debate:
Chairman: This being a proposal on which unanimity is going to be necessary, there is no
problem about the government standing its ground on these matters?
Lord Filkin: That is a robust statement. Clearly we have leverage and we would want to
exercise that as vigorously and positively as we could.
European Commission informal power is believed by some political scientists to
be at its greatest when information about a topic is vague or when the Commission has
more information than Member States (Pollack 1997). Then Member States will agree to
a proposal as there is no clear reason to not do so or enough knowledge to prefer another
option. This sometimes occurs in complex economic proposals. However, this proposal
did not involve highly technical details that the Member States could not clarify, and
10
Interview with MEP A of Justice and Home Affairs
11
With the proposed EU Constitution, some of these realities will change. For example, the pillar system
will be eliminated and unanimous voting will no longer be required in Justice and Home Affairs.
12
Now known as the Security, Freedom and Justice directorate. As most discussion on the frameworkd
decision occurred while this area was still known as Justice and Home Affairs, that is the name that will be
used.
13
UK House of Lords debate, June 26, 2002
6
Convention