EU Home Affairs Ministers will meet in person on Friday 13 March in Brussels for a shortened session focusing on the adoption of Justice and Home Affairs guidelines, the situation at the Greek-Turkish border and, of course, the state of play regarding the spread of the coronavirus, which will be discussed over lunch and could raise wider issues concerning the Schengen area.
This formal meeting - with the ‘Justice’ part removed - will thus be an opportunity for the ministers and ministerial representatives to continue the discussions of 4 March, when they met urgently to discuss the situation of the thousands of migrants arriving at the Greek-Turkish border. The ministers then agreed on operational measures to monitor the Greek external border. They are expected to continue this discussion on the personnel and equipment resources promised in Athens (see EUROPE 12439/1).
The action plan to relocate unaccompanied minors from the Greek islands to other EU Member States could also be addressed. The Commission will be invited to revisit its trip to Greece on 12 March (see separate news item).
With regard to coronavirus, the discussion is supposed, at this stage, to focus only on civil protection aspects, but several delegations intend to raise the issue of controls at the internal Schengen borders.
Austria is currently the only country to have announced temporary controls at the border with Italy, but many countries are carrying out ‘health’ controls in border areas and in transport. Slovakia and the Czech Republic in turn announced the closure of their borders and entry bans for some EU nationals.
The aim of this discussion on Schengen would be to call for coordination and consultation in the event of the re-establishment of borders.
It is also possible that the ministers will address the 30-day entry ban on nationals of the 26 Schengen countries imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Strategic directions. Ministers are expected to adopt the EU Council’s strategic guidelines for Justice and Home Affairs for the next 5 years. These will then be formally adopted by the European Council on 26 and 27 March.
No changes have been made to the text compared to the version of 2 March (see EUROPE 12440/9), which remains the last draft to have been discussed, according to a European source.
The text focuses on four cross-disciplinary issues, namely: - common values and the Rule of Law; - mutual trust; - protection of the integrity of the common European area; - new technologies, in particular artificial intelligence.
There was also reportedly no major discussions about the text on Wednesday 11 March at the meeting of Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper). Some delegations were not able to agree to the text, preferring to leave the decision in the hands of ministers on Friday, according to the same source. The issue will therefore be the subject of an exchange of views. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Marion Fontana)