Cyprus Ministers of Justice and Public Order Kypros Chryrostomides and of the Interior Neoclis Sylikiotis will meet Wednesday in Brussels Vice-President of the European Commission Responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security Jacques Barrot to discuss ways to combat illegal immigration and political asylum matters.
The two Ministers will brief Barrot on the specific problems which Cyprus faces, mainly with regard to the issue of illegal immigration and will call on the EU to contribute, in practical ways, towards tackling the problem.
The meeting, to take place on the sidelines of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, will provide the Ministers responsible for immigration with an opportunity to further negotiations concerning two draft directives on access to, and the conditions of stay in, the European Union for highly qualified workers from third countries and the sanctions that may be taken against employers of undocumented migrants from third countries. The Presidency wishes to obtain a strongly expressed political commitment on these two texts which represent priority issues, while being fully coherent with a balanced approach to migration as part of the draft European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.
The Council will adopt conclusions concerning the welcoming of refugees from Iraq in the member states of the European Union. While stressing the need to create the conditions under which these citizens can be returned to Iraq, the Council will invite the member states to provide asylum, according to their capacity to accommodate refugees, for the most vulnerable people.
The Ministers will also be informed of the progress that has been made on the draft European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, presented at the informal meeting of the justice and home affairs ministers in Cannes on 7 July 2008.
The Commission will then present its recent communications on immigration and asylum.
The interior ministers will hold a debate on the European Passenger Names Record (PNR) project which aims to allow the competent agencies in the member states to use passenger data held by airlines, as is already the case in several countries. The French presidency wishes to continue with the work begun during the first half of the year on the Commission's proposal. In consultation with the main stakeholders, such as the European Parliament and the national data protection authorities, it will hold discussions on specific issues so as to highlight the main characteristics of this future system.
The Presidency will also strive to obtain the Council's agreement on the principle of creating and implementing a European platform for recording criminal offences committed on the Internet and on the setting-up, with the Commission's support, of a comprehensive cybercrime strategy.
The ministers of justice will work to reach a political consensus on the review of the decisions concerning EUROJUST and the European Judicial Network in criminal matters. These two texts will help to improve the efficiency of these instruments in the fight against organised crime within the European Union.
They will examine the ECRIS project on the electronic interconnection of the criminal records systems in the 27 Member States. In 2007, 18,241 conviction notices were exchanged. This cooperation tool is therefore crucial to the construction of the European Judicial Area.
They will continue their work in the field of family law with a view to finding a political solution concerning the rules applicable to divorce in order to provide a concrete answer to a problem encountered by an increasing number of European citizens.
Finally, the French Presidency will pass on to the Commission the Future Group reports of the Interior and Immigration Ministers and the Justice Ministers, which were examined during the informal meeting of the justice and home affairs ministers in Cannes. These reports constitute a major contribution to the drafting of the multi-annual programme which will replace the Hague Convention in 2010.
