Date of release : 01-06-2005

Policy area : Justice and Home Affairs Justice and Home Affairs

Event : Justice and Home Affairs Council

The Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union will be held in Luxembourg on 2 and 3 June 2005 under the chairmanship of Luc Frieden, Minister for Justice, and Nicolas Schmit, Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs and Immigration.

The first day of the JHA Council will be dedicated to the topic of justice. During this session, the Ministers will debate the framework-decision proposal on the European evidence warrant. This European warrant is a judicial decision issued by a competent authority of a Member State in order to obtain objects, documents and data with a view to using them during procedures. The Council will hold an orientation debate on the territoriality clause and the question of the possible inclusion of access to computer data in the territory of another Member State.

Also on the agenda is the draft framework decision on the retention of data used and stored by telecommunications service providers. The Council will attempt to reach an agreement on certain key questions on the perspective of the implementation of the draft framework decision, especially the list of data to be retained, the length of the period of retention and the legal basis of the issue. This framework decision is intended to facilitate judicial cooperation on criminal justice for the reconciliation of the legislation of the Member States.

The Council will also discuss the evaluation of the transposition of the framework decision on the European arrest warrant on the basis of the report by the Commission of 23 February 2005. This European arrest warrant is intended to speed up the extradition of persons suspected of criminal acts in the EU.

In light of the importance of fighting racism and xenophobia, the Luxembourg Presidency has decided to submit to the Council the relaunch of the review of the framework-decision proposal with a view to concluding a general orientation.

The first press conference of the Presidency will be held after breakfast.

Then the Commission will present its proposal on the Schengen Information System (SIS II) to the Joint Committee (EU, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). The SIS is an information system that makes available information on certain categories of people and objects to the competent authorities of the Member States. This makes it an essential element in a well-functioning area of security, freedom and justice. The implementation of SIS II is an essential condition for the participation of the new Member States in an area of security without internal borders.

The second session of the JHA Council will be held on 3 June 2005, and will focus on "Home affairs". In response to the invitation of the European Council, the Council should establish an action plan that will translate The Hague programme into specific actions. This multi-year programme for the 2005-2010 period is intended to strengthen cooperation between the European states in the areas of justice and home affairs in order to make Europe "an area of security, freedom and justice".

It is expected that the Ministers will follow up on their discussions on the implementation of the counter-terrorism action plan. The Luxembourg Presidency, with the assistance of the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, is updating the version of the action plan submitted to the European Council in December 2004.

The Council should also reach a political agreement on the decision proposal establishing the European Police College (CEPOL) as an organ of the EU. In addition, it will be informed about the positive and constructive operational cooperation of the Task Force of Police Chiefs on the fight against paedophilia, which was held in several Member States.

The Council should adopt conclusions on launching dialogue and cooperation with Libya on questions relating to migration.

The Luxembourg Presidency will close the Justice and Home Affairs Council with a press conference on 3 June at around 1:00 p.m.

As part of the Council, the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Schengen agreements will be held on 2 June at 7:15 p.m. This academic session will be held in Schengen, the Luxembourg village where the agreement that called for the incremental realisation of the free movement of people within the Schengen area was signed in June 1985.