Terrorism, border security and future developments in the field of Justice and Home Affairs were discussed in today's Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union, hosted in Zappeio by the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

 

Two issues, "terrorism and border security" and "future developments in the field of Justice and Home Affairs" were the focus of the Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union hosted at Zappeion Megaron by the Greek Presidency of the European Union. The Informal Council was chaired by Minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection Nikos Dendias, in the presence of Minister of Interior, Yannis Michelakis and Minister of Shipping, Maritime Affairs and the Aegean Miltiadis Varvitsiotis. The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, the Chairman of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament, Juan Fernando López Aguilar and representatives of a number of EU agencies, participated in the Council.

 

In regard to the first item on the agenda, the Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU emphasized the issue of border security and its connection with terrorism.

 

In his initial intervention Minister Dendias stressed that:

• Illegal immigration is associated with organized criminal groups’ activities; it is also a predicate factor to a series of major crimes.

• We seek ways to address the issue of foreign fighters, with a cohesive policy and in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation.

• The concept of common external borders requires the development of common approaches and closer cooperation.

• Strengthening and deepening our policies in this direction should be based on the principles of solidarity, shared responsibility and fair burden-sharing between Member States.

 

The Minister of Shipping, Maritime Affairs and the Aegean, Varvitsiotis stressed the necessity for continuous reinforcement of the surveillance and control measures over the EU’s external maritime borders to safeguard both the integrity of Schengen area and the rescue of the lives of persons in distress at sea.

 

In this context, he underlined the emphasis he places on the joint EU initiative to launch such measures in the Mediterranean basin (Task Force Mediterranean) as well as on the necessity to adopt a European regulatory framework, applicable in EU external maritime borders surveillance operations.  In this regard, he informed the EU member states Ministers of the considerable progress of the negotiations conducted by the Greek Presidency with the European Parliament on the relevant proposed Regulation, with a view to having its text adopted the soonest possible.

 

Finally, he expressed his deep sorrow and anguish at the tragic event of last Monday in Farmakonissi, which resulted in the loss of 12 people, stating that despite the Hellenic Coast Guard’s record of 3,500 human rescues, each loss of human life at sea is a tragic event for our country.

 

Summarizing the conclusions of the discussion between EU Member States and participating representatives of European Organizations, Minister Dendias mentioned that while there is no obvious systemic bond between terrorism and illegal migration, “we cannot rule out possible ties. Nevertheless, terrorism is, in any case, related to several forms of organized criminality”. “The external borders protection”, he concluded, “needs greater share of our attention and towards this end all available means of intergovernmental cooperation should be used, both between member states and with third countries”.

 

Agreement was also reached on the necessity for enhancement of cooperation between EUROPOL and FRONTEX, on the need for a European PNR system and on making use of the Schengen Information System (SIS), as well as the implementation of the so called “smart borders” package.

 

Participants supported the view that Member States' efforts to cope with radicalisation, in the context of the new figures released by the European Commission, should be intensified.

 

Future development on the Justice and Home Affairs area

 

Regarding the developments on the Justice and Home Affairs area, which was the second issue on today’s Informal JHA agenda, Minister Dendias in his initial argument stated that:

• The Greek Presidency seeks out for innovative European policies to be adopted and others already in force that should be enhanced, in order to answer the challenges of the post-Stockholm era.

• Under quest are also ways to achieve deeper coherence between internal and foreign policy of the European Union, in order to discourage illegal migration and to manage emergency situations.

• An issue many Member States are concerned with, is how the principle of solidarity is translated to specific policies and practices and how can it be implemented through the gradual establishment of burden sharing mechanisms.

• The priorities should be outlined with flexibility so as to allow coping with potential emergency situations and managing crises in an effective way.

 

At his initial argument, the Minister of Interior Yannis Michelakis referred in particular to the need for investigating pathways to improve policies for legal migration, so that they meet the specific needs of national labour markets of the Member States, taking into account the already available workforce in Member States. Mr Michelakis also stressed that proper integration policies should be implemented and that social cohesion, and fight against racism and xenophobia should be enhanced. As stated by the Minister of Interior, the Presidency considers that the discussion at the Informal Council can contribute substantially, in outlining future strategy directions in the area of Home Affairs, which will meet the expectations of the Member States and will respond to contemporary challenges.

 

The main conclusions drawn from the Ministers meeting were:

• Solidarity and particularly towards partners that are under pressure and those neighbouring to areas of conflict as well as the burden sharing in various fields should come along with responsibility.

• The establishment of strict criminal penalties for illegal migrant traffickers and a framework for those help saving human lives in order not to be prosecuted is essential.

• The policy of external borders management should be maintained with the reinforcement of all that has been achieved under the existing Stockholm Programme.

• The improvement of migrants integration policy and the encounter of racism and xenophobia and the elimination of adverse messages that reinforce these phenomena is necessary, along with a consistent and credible human rights policy.

• The European Union should consider the problem of economic and operational cooperation with third countries in various fields of legal migration, but also to tackle illegal immigration, and border management in various sectors. (The issue of introducing the principle of conditionality or «more for more» was set inter alia).

• Strengthening cooperation between national authorities and European institutions is essential.

 

Finally, the practical functioning of the Common European Asylum System was discussed, with emphasis put on the principle of solidarity and fair burden sharing. 

 

During the Informal JHA Council, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström referred to the European Commission Communication regarding "Prevention of terrorism radicalization and violent extremism-Enhancing the EU response."