The ministers, meeting in this central Spanish city, agreed on the new EU legislation that covers 32 serious crimes ranging from terrorism to drug trafficking and punishable by a minimum three years in prison.
French JusticeMinister Dominique Perben hailed the new measure as revolutionary in the sense that it significantly shortens extradition proceedings that currently take an average 18 months.
France and Germany are in the process of adopting the legislation and are expected to implement it in early 2004.