The future of the European Cooperation in the field of Justice and Home Affairs was discussed in today's Justice and Home Affairs Council, chaired by the Minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias. Plus, the Alternate Minister of Interior Leonidas Grigorakos and the Minister of Justice Charalmbos Athanasiou presented the work programme in the area of ​​Home Affairs.

During the meeting (Justice and Home Affairs), ministers expressed their final opinions on the Strategic Guidelines for the future development in the JHA area in post-Stockholm period.

‘’The Council had during the Greek Presidency a lot of prioritiy points in our agenda, that we have been working on in the area of JHA. Today at this last Council meeting we had a discussion on the future cooperation and work in the JHA area” stressed Μr Dendias. The national delegations gave their views on the strategic guidelines and the main thrust for developing post-Stockholm Justice and Home Affairs. On the basis of this input, the Greek Presidency has prepared a letter for the President of the European Council Mr Herman Van Rompuy.

Ministers of the JHA Council agreed on the Draft of the Regulation on the European Agency  for Cooperation and Training for Law Enforcement, which was a legislative priority of the Greek Presidency.

Minister Dendias underlined that “the Council adopted the draft review of the revised EU strategy for Combating Radicalisation and Recruitment to Terrorism, a matter that needs to remain very high in the common European agenda, given also the counter-terrorism perspective as regards the foreign fighters and returnees, in particular with regard to Syria”. Mr Dendias expressed his deep sorrow for the murderous attack that took place at the Jewish Museum in Brussels and his sincere regret for such actions. “These actions show that combating terrorism is still a very serious matter that needs continuous work”, he stressed.

During the Council meeting, the on-going legislative activity in the field of legal migration was also examined. The Greek Presidency provided an update on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, pupil exchange, remunerated and unremunerated training, voluntary service and au pairing. The Council took note of the information on the state of play of Students and Researchers Directive and noted the progress achieved on this proposal so far.

“Referring to the operational actions of TASK FORCE Mediterranean that were discussed during today’s Council, Mr Dendias underlined that their implementation should remain a top priority”. Also, the Council was briefed by the Commission on the legislative developments concerning sanctions against employers of illegally staying third-country nationals and the conditions of residence of third-country nationals for highly qualified employment (Blue Card EU).

The Greek Presidency also provided an update on the legislative initiatives regarding “Smart Borders”. During the official lunch, Poland informed ministers on the results of the informal meeting of Home Affairs Ministers of Schengen States with external land borders, held in Poland on 13-14 May 2014. At the end of the meeting, Italy presented the programme of the incoming Presidency.

The consequences emanating from the invalidation by the European Court of Justice of Directive 2006/24/EC on the retention of data were also discussed at the session.The Ministers adopted Council Conclusions on the Commission 2013 report regarding the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and heard the annual reports of the Fundamental Rights Agency and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EEMCDDA).

The Council also adopted conclusions on anti-curruption measures to be taken within the EU