Opting out of EU police and justice co-operation may be an‘own goal’ for David Cameron

After 2014 the European Court of Justice will be given new powers over how police, prosecutors and courts across the EU co-operate. The UK Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced that this will be used as an opportunity for the country to opt-out of a raft of these cooperation agreements. Hugo Brady argues that the UK’s strategy of opting out of the full package of agreements, with the intention of opting back in to measures it agrees with, is wrong-headed unlikely to succeed and could leave the country with much diminished influence.