On Tuesday 22 June in Lisbon, the European Commission and the US government announced the re-launch of the EU-US dialogue on migration to find common solutions to migration and refugee issues.
This dialogue platform, established in October 2009, had in fact, been put on hold during the Trump administration. They also announced the creation of a joint working group on ransomware, which will involve Europol and the FBI.
During this new informal EU-US Justice and Home Affairs meeting, the two sides also discussed visa reciprocity and the fact that four EU countries are still excluded from the visa-free programme offered to the other Member States. The four countries in question - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, and Croatia - “have made progress” and “we would like all our Member States to have the same opportunities”, commented Vice-President Margarítis Schinás, saying that he hoped for “positive developments” (see EUROPE 12587/5).
The US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, spoke of progress with Croatia, which could “join the Visa Waiver Programme in a short time period”.
For the rest, the discussion focused on the various areas of cooperation between the two partners, notably against terrorism. In this regard, Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson reiterated her commitment to agreements on PNR data transfers, which “are essential to prevent attacks and serious crime”.
Both sides also pledged to strengthen their cooperation against online sexual abuse of children.
European Asylum Agency
The Commissioner said in Lisbon that the trilogues on the new negotiating mandate given to the Portuguese Presidency on the European Asylum Agency “will start next week” and will follow each other very closely (see EUROPE 12742/10). The Commissioner is therefore confident that this 2016 regulation can be adopted under the Portuguese Presidency.
Read the joint EU-US statement: https://bit.ly/2SgLc5e (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)