Brussels, 03/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - European fighters in Syria, reports back from the immigration task force set in place following the Lampedusa tragedy in October 2013 and the regulation on the protection of personal data will dominate the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, to be held in Luxembourg on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 June.
The ministers' discussion on European fighters in Syria, which is highly anticipated due to the recent shooting at the Jewish Museum of Brussels on 24 May which left four people dead, will be carried out on the basis of a note by Gilles de Kerchove, the EU anti-terrorism coordinator. Early in the morning, it may be preceded by an informal meeting of the ministers of the countries most affected by the phenomenon, such as France, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Between seven and eight countries may take part in this more restricted debate, which may also include third countries like the United States and Turkey.
Officially, the general discussions included on the agenda will not lead to any conclusions. The meeting will give the member states the opportunity to discuss ways of reinforcing their exchange of information and assessing their practices. Several countries have recently adopted plans to tackle foreign fighters, who bring potential security threats with them upon their return to Europe.
Syria. In April, the French government announced a plan to discuss possible bans on leaving the territory for individuals suspected of joining a jihadist movement, which may apply both to adults and adolescents in the event of reports by their parents to the public authorities. In Belgium, a country which is seriously affected by the issue, a Syria task force has been in place since April 2013. Amongst other things, it provides a central point of contact for families which may be concerned and wishing to get help or provide information on specific cases. Certain countries have also discussed stripping these fighters who leave for Syria of their nationality. Additionally, the national law of several countries explicitly provides for a ban on leaving to fight abroad. On 8 May of this year, nine member states met in Brussels to discuss the risks brought about by returning jihadis, with between 1,000 and 2,500 Europeans currently in Syria, according to available estimates. The United States, Turkey, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia also took part in this meeting.
Lampedusa. Another sensitive subject of the meeting will be the monitoring of the immigration task force launched in the wake of the tragedy at Lampedusa in early October of last year, which cost 366 migrants their lives. So far, this expert group has not given rise to any concrete action. Only Italy has begun its Mare Nostrum patrol operation between its coasts and Libya to try to prevent any further dramas.
In Luxembourg, the Commission will present a document listing the initiatives taken since October: signature of the readmission agreement with Turkey, mobility partnerships with Morocco and Tunisia, development of regional protection programmes for Syrian refugees and resettlement programmes in the EU and other cooperation networks.
For the time being, the member states will go no further than simply exchanging views and taking stock of the measures implemented. Officially, this issue is to be discussed in late June at a European summit devoted to the future of policies with a bearing on justice and home affairs.
Personal data. On the protection of personal data, a small step forward is anticipated on three aspects of the regulation, which will be the subject of a partial general approach: on the territorial scope of the regulation, on the definition of obligatory rules for businesses and on a framework for transfers of internatinoal data. A consensus was reached on these points among the ministers in Athens in late January, and will be finalised in Luxembourg.
In any case, this partial general approach does not mean that talks with the European Parliament can begin. In fact, nothing can be deemed to have been decided until there is an agreement in place on the entire proposal. And on the extremely complex subject of the single point of contact, no agreement is expected, with only a guideline debate planned.
The dossiers on Europol, the fight against corruption, governance of the Schengen zone and the future European public prosecutor also feature on the agenda of the ministerial meeting. (SP)