During the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels, Minister of Interior, Ioannis Michelakis presented yesterday (5.12.2013), the priorities of the upcoming Greek Presidency in his area of responsibility.
 
More specifically, in the course of the Presidency, the Minister of Interior:
 

    Intends to work intensively, in cooperation with the Member States and the European Commission and in deliberation with the European Parliament, towards formulating the strategic objectives and the general EU policy guidelines in the area of Justice and Home Affairs for the post-Stockholm period. The aim is to formulate a strategic framework, which, along with developments and the future prospects of the EU Member States, will provide efficient answers to challenges by offering an effective framework for strategy and action while respecting the differentiated level of responsibilities of both the EU and the Member States.
    Will pursue the efforts for effective cooperation of the EU with third countries in all aspects of migration and asylum, in respect to the pillars of the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility.
    Will seek to promote and bring to a conclusion legislative work, which is currently in progress, in the area of legal migration. More specifically, the Presidency will work closely with the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission with the aim to achieve a political agreement on the Directive proposal for conditions of entry and residence of third country nationals in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer. At the same time, an objective will be to advance discussions on the entry and stay of third country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, pupil exchange, remunerated and unremunerated training, voluntary service and au pairing.
    Will seek to promote the European Agenda for Integration, focusing on language skills of legal migrants, related to interculturality and their best integration, or their stay (in cases of short stay) in the host country. Moreover, in the framework of the Stockholm Programme, the Greek Presidency will make every effort to enhance the structures and tools for information exchange on best practices adopted by Member States.