Some bilateral or multilateral treaties have no direct connection to the European Union. The basic convention is the 1957 Council of Europe European Convention on Extradition, which all member countries but Belgium have ratified. Other treaties have a closer relationship to the European Union or to the former European Communities, because they were developed to be ratified by all the member countries. The trend toward a global Union approach in international cooperation in criminal matters is confirmed by Article K.1.7 of the Treaty on European Union, which states that member countries shall regard judicial cooperation in criminal matters as a matter of common interest. Extradition negotiations since the Treaty took effect have covered many topics, including simplified extradition procedure, the threshold for extradition, extradition for offenses punishable with life sentences, and extradition for tax offenses. Footnotes