On Wednesday 8 February, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, was the first European Commission official to travel to Washington to meet his counterpart, John Kelly.
In a reference to the anti-immigration decree signed at the end of January by US president, Donald Trump, as reported by Reuters, the European leader is expected to tell his counterpart that the US cannot close their doors to refugees.
According to a Commission press release, the Commissioner is also expected to highlight the importance of the “historic partnership” between the EU and US. The subjects for discussion include continued transatlantic cooperation, particularly in the field of fighting terrorism, organised crime, cyber-attacks and global migration challenges.
The two parties are committed to a number of transatlantic agreements, such as Passenger Name Records (PNR) and financial data in the terrorism domain.
On Thursday, Mr Avramopoulos will be joined in Washington by the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security, Federica Mogherini, (see EUROPE 11720). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)