Speaking on BFMTV, William Julié detailed the scope of the European arrest warrant issued against Santiago’s parents.
This was an opportunity to outline the nature, procedure and consequences of issuing a European arrest warrant: an alert is recorded in a data system accessible by the Schengen Area member states, which will arrest the person in the event of a control, before handing him or her over to the requesting state.
The strength of the European arrest warrant lies in the fact that the individual must be surrendered even if he or she is a national of the requested state (unlike the extradition procedure). The European arrest warrant does, however, have its limitations, particularly in the case of absconding to a non-EU country. In such cases, the extradition procedure provided for in international or bilateral agreements between the two States concerned would apply, bearing in mind that most States refuse to extradite their own nationals.