Brussels, 27/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - At the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council in Brussels on Monday 30 November and Tuesday 1 December, the European Union will scrap the short-stay visa requirements for people holding a passport from Serbia, Montenegro or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) who wish to travel to the EU. The ministers' meeting will be unusual in that the first day (on Home Affairs) will take place under the Nice Treaty and the second (Justice) on the day that the Lisbon Treaty comes into force. On both days, EU justice and home affairs ministers will hold a public debate on the 2010-2014 Stockholm Programme (on the EU as an area of freedom, security and justice) that will be formally adopted by the European summit on 10 and 11 December.
Joint Committee. Home affairs ministers will be attending the EU-Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein joint meeting on Monday morning to examine progress in the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and developing a Visa Information System (VIS). Commentators suggest that SIS II is at a critical stage and is encountering ever increasing implementation problems. The first milestone is due to be reached this year, although people are already suggesting that problems encountered by the project's contractor, HP/Steria, mean it will have to be delayed until January next year. HP/Steria says that the success criteria set by the Commission for the first milestone are too high. At the Council, criticism is expected from Germany and Austria, which have been arguing from the start for a different solution because of the constant hiccoughs in SIS II. There are also delays in designing the central VIS system in Strasbourg and also in preparing the national systems, particularly in Greece. Ministers will hold a policy debate on whether to set up a large-scale information system agency in the domains of freedom, security and justice.
Home Affairs. Chaired by Beatrice Ask, Sweden's Justice Minister, the Council will endorse amendments to Regulation 539/2001 to enable passport-holders from Serbia, FYROM and Montenegro to travel to and within the Schengen Area for short-stays without a visa. The new system will come into force for all three countries on 19 December 2009, rather than the previously scheduled date of 1 January 2010. Ministers will examine a draft agreement between the EU and the United States on the use of financial messaging information to combat terrorism (SWIFT). Member States' Permanent Representatives to the EU were not successful in their meeting on Monday 27 November to try and reach a last-ditch agreement due to reservations from Germany and Austria, and the ministers will therefore have to decide on the issue themselves. The dossier is particularly sensitive because the European Parliament has written to the Swedish Presidency of the EU asking for the decision to be deferred until the Lisbon Treaty comes into force (see EUROPE 10028).
The Council will adopt a decision on a mutual judicial aid deal between the EU and Japan, the first such agreement between the two parties. The deal should provide solid foundations for judicial cooperation and ensure respect of the EU's fundamental values like the ban on using evidence provided by a member state when issuing a death sentence.
Chaired by Sweden's minister for immigration and asylum policy, Tobias Billström, the Council will examine progress on a joint EU asylum system. Ministers are expected to rubberstamp the agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers on the creation of an EU bureau on asylum and the necessary amendments in this connection to the European Refugee Fund. The new bureau will have its headquarters in La Valetta, the capital of Malta. EU counter-terror coordinator Gilles de Kerchove will submit his latest report to the Council on implementation of the EU counter-terror action plan.
Justice. On Tuesday, the Council will meet for the first time under the new rules set out in the Lisbon Treaty. Justice ministers will hold a policy debate on two items of legislation, one on EU rules for the transmission of criminal proceeding and the other on increasing the protection of victims and the fight against human trafficking. The Council will also adopt general guidelines on EU foreign policy in this domain. Ministers will be briefed about progress on eJustice and draft legislation to step up the fight against sexploitation of children (the exploitation of children for sexual ends, child pornography and sexual abuse of children). (B.C./transl.fl)