NEWS
Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council
On July 18th, Sopot was the venue of the first meeting of interior (home) ministers of the European Union countries held as part of the Polish Presidency.
In Sopot, the interior ministers discussed Common European Asylum System, the future functioning of the Schengen area, more effective border management and drug policy. Those issues constitute priorities of Poland’s Presidency in the realm of home affairs and will be the subject of its intensive efforts, both at the political as well as the experts’ level.
Stepping up work on a Common European Asylum System
The ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to conclude their work on the creation of a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) by the end of 2012. A key factor in that area is the Council’s cooperation with the European Parliament, which on the basis of the Lisbon Treaty is entitled to co-decide EU legislation (i.e. participate in common legislative procedures).
The commitment to create the CEAS by 2012 was adopted during the European Council’s December 2009 session in Stockholm. The conclusions contained in what has come to be known as the Stockholm Programme envisaged creating common asylum procedures and uniform protection status in order to obliterate existing differences.
The system comprises five legal acts: reception directives, procedural and qualification directives as well as the Dublin and Eurodac Regulations. The system is additionally supplemented by initiatives pertaining to practical cooperation, solidarity, the external dimension of asylum and migration.
During the meeting Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, chairman of the LIBE (Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs) Committee, submitted a proposal to intensify cooperation at the experts level between the Council, Committee and Parliament in order to develop a strategy for future actions. It met with the interest of Member States’ representatives.
Future of the Schengen Area
The need to protect the unquestionable value of free flow of people was emphasised. There was agreement on the need to concentrate on the creation of a system enabling the prevention of crisis situations and developing the EU’s and Member States’ adequate response to the growing pressure of illegal migration and the resultant threats to security and public order. In that connection, the key issue is to properly beef up the protection of external borders and to strengthen the Schengen evaluation mechanism. The ministers emphasised that the restoration of internal-border control should be regarded solely as the last resort. Debate in the EU forum should concentrate on finding solutions which would avoid such a radical measure. The Frontex agency should play a key role in enforcing adherence to Schengen principles by Member States.
‘Intelligent frontiers’
The discussion also covered the use of modern information and biometric technologies to bolster border protection whilst simultaneously facilitating border crossing for bona fide travellers. The discussion also turned to the advisability of creating a new system registering people crossing the EU’s external borders and the activation of a programme to register and facilitate border crossing for frequent travellers. The Ministers heard the information of the European Commission on the subject of such a system
Drug policy
Priority status was accorded to the adoption and implementation of the European Pact Against Synthetic Drugs. It calls on Member States as well as EU institutions and agencies to adopt measures to combat the production of and illegal trade in synthetic drugs and precursors. Emphasis was laid on the necessity to improve information-sharing mechanisms on new trends in synthetic-drug production, intensify operational and investigative cooperation with Europol, harmonise specialist training in the detection of illegal laboratories and bolster cooperation with third countries, especially those of Eastern Europe. Also discussed was the matter of updating Council Decision UE 2005/387/JHA of 10 May 2005 on the information exchange, risk-assessment and control of new psychoactive substances in connection with the emergence in recent years of mass distribution of what is referred to as new drugs, which constitute a serious public-health threat. The change of that decision would have as its purpose the creation of a legal tool to effectively react to the emergence of new drugs and consequently swiftly halt their production and distribution.
