Brussels, 4 October 2024
Justice and Home Affairs Council Luxembourg, Thursday 10 and Friday 11 October 2024
The Justice and Home Affairs Council will take place on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 October in Luxembourg. Minister Sándor Pintér will chair the meeting of home affairs ministers (10 October) and Minister Bence Tuzson the meeting of justice ministers (11 October).
Home affairs ministers will attempt to reach agreement on a draft regulation to protect children from sexual abuse online. This agenda point will take place in public session. Ministers will also discuss the overall state of the Schengen area. They will be briefed on the full application of the Schengen acquis in Bulgaria and Romania and the planned entry into operation of the Entry/Exit System. The lunch debate will address the need of an effective and sustainable return system.
The afternoon session will be dedicated to security issues: the consequences of external conflicts on the EU’s security situation and the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime.
Justice ministers will exchange views on the implementation of the EU’s antiracism action plan. Also on the agenda are the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime and the fight against impunity of war crime in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The working lunch will be on access to justice in the context of rule of law and competitiveness.
Home Affairs
Fight against child sexual abuse
The presidency aims to reach a common position of member states on a legislative proposal to combat child sexual abuse. The proposed EU law would make it mandatory for internet companies to prevent the dissemination, and, if needed, detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material on their services. A planned EU centre would support authorities acting on reports of child sexual abuse and collect and share expertise and best practices in prevention and victim support. The proposal on the table of the Council will in first instance limit the detection orders – which can be issued by authorities as a measure of last resort to high risk services – to known child sexual abuse material i.e. material that has already previously been detected and confirmed as child sexual abuse material.
The proposal was presented by the Commission in May 2022. It was discussed in more than 30 meetings of the responsible Council working party.
- Prevention of online child sexual abuse (background information)
The presidency will also inform delegations about other legislative files that fall within the remit of home affairs ministers.
Schengen
Ministers will take stock of the overall state of the Schengen area. The Commission will present the Schengen Barometer, a biannual report that looks at developments, emerging threats and developments for the Schengen area. Ministers will exchange views on the implementation of the priorities of the annual Schengen Council cycle. The discussion will focus on the priority related to increasing the resilience of our external borders.
The presidency will also give a state of play of the full application of the Schengen acquis in Bulgaria and Romania. On 30 December 2023, the Council decided to lift air and maritime border controls with Bulgaria and Romania. Setting the date of the lifting of checks at internal land borders with Bulgaria and Romania requires a further Council decision.
EU law enforcement IT systems
The EU is drawing closer to the launch of the Entry/Exit System (EES) – an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals who are travelling for a short stay. Under the new system, border officers will scan the fingerprints or take a photo of those crossing the border for the first time. This information will be recorded in a digital file. Ministers will be briefed on the state of play of the launch.
The EES is part of a wider range of crime-fighting and border security IT systems that the EU is on course to deploy in the next years. The ETIAS travel authorisation system – a system that will check security, migration and health risks of non-EU nationals who do not need a visa to enter the Schengen area – is scheduled to become operational in the first half of 2025.
Asylum and migration
The returns of irregular migrants and rejected asylum seekers will be the subject of the ministerial working lunch. According to Eurostat, in 2023 484,160 non-EU citizens were ordered to leave the EU, 91,465 (18.9%) of which effectively returned.
The presidency will ask ministers to express themselves on whether the EU should start exploring at expert level and in full compliance with international and EU law and fundamental rights the legal and practical feasibility of innovative solutions in the field of returns, notably the return hub concept. It also wants to hear from ministers on how the EU can further strengthen the external dimension and what role Frontex can play in this respect. Ministers are also asked about the potential need for EU level actions for the effective return of criminals and persons posing a security threat who come from sensitive third countries, based on an individual assessment and in full respect of the principle of non-refoulement.
Internal security
Based on an overview of the current threat landscape, ministers will exchange views on the potential consequences of external conflicts, including the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, and their implications for the EU, such as an increase of migratory pressure and further exacerbation of polarisation in our societies.
Since the start of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the Hamas attack of 7 October home affairs ministers have regularly held discussions on the implications of these conflicts for the EU’s internal security.
Ministers will share their assessment of the potential impact on the EU’s internal security and the need for additional mitigating measures.
The presidency will also inform about its priorities in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime and about the latest developments on how these priorities are addressed.
- EU drugs policy (background information)
- The EU’s fight against organised crime (background information)
Other business
The Commission will brief ministers about the implementation of migration and asylum reforms. Germany will address the implementation of the digital services act and its reporting obligation for illegal content.
The Swedish delegation will inform about the recruitment of minors and young individuals into criminality via online platforms. Lithuania will provide information about a regional civil protection forum that took place on 6 September in Vilnius.
The Hungarian presidency finally will update ministers about the EU-Western Balkans’ Justice and Home Affairs ministerial forum which will happen on 28 and 29 October in Montenegro.
Justice
Fight against racism
Ministers of justice will exchange views on the implementation of the EU’s antiracism action plan. The plan, the EU’s first, was adopted in 2020 and sets out a series of measures, in various areas, including law enforcement, education, employment, housing, and health, to step up action to address racism more effectively in the EU. A Commission report dated 25 September 2024 takes stock of the implementation of the EU action plan and national action plans.
At the European Council meeting of 14 and 15 December 2023 EU leaders said to be “seriously concerned about recent alarming incidents”, reiterated their “condemnation in the strongest possible terms of all forms of antisemitism and hate, intolerance, racism and xenophobia, including anti-Muslim hatred” and recalled “the European Union Anti-racism Action Plan and the European Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life”.
Sirpa Rautio, the director of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, will brief ministers about the latest figures and trends in this area in the EU.
- Fundamental rights (background information)
- European Council conclusions, 14 and 15 December 2023
- Report on the implementation of the EU anti-racism action plan 2020-2025 and on national action plans against racism and discrimination (European Commission)
Fight against drug trafficking and organised crime
The presidency will inform ministers about its activities in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime.
- EU drugs policy (background information)
- The EU’s fight against organised crime (background information)
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine: fight against impunity
Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Council has supported the coordination and cooperation between member states and international actors to ensure that those who have committed international crimes will not remain unpunished.
Member states, the EU and international bodies initiated a number of important initiatives to fight impunity related to international crimes committed in Ukraine: these include the dispatch by member states of forensic experts to Ukraine, the establishment of a joint investigation team into alleged crimes committed in Ukraine, the development by Eurojust of a Core International Crimes Evidence Database, the set up at Eurojust of an International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine and the launch of national investigations into international crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine.
On 9 December 2022, the Council approved conclusions on the fight against impunity in which member states called upon Ukraine to accede to the Rome Statute. On 24 August 2024, Ukraine has adopted a legislative package on the accession to the Statute. The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court.
Ministers will be updated on the most recent developments.
Council adopts conclusions on the fight against impunity in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (Press release, 9 December 2022)
Other business
Together with the Commission, the presidency will provide updates about developments in the area of combatting antisemitism. The presidency will also inform about the EU-Western Balkans’ Justice and Home Affairs ministerial forum which will take place in Montenegro on 28 and 29 October 2024 and about the state of play regarding the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Commission will inform delegations about the 2024 annual report on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the negotiations on an EU-US e-evidence agreement.
Slovakia will address the rule of law report 2024.
Source – EU Council: Background brief – Justice and Home Affairs Council, 10-11 October 2024