The Home Affairs Ministers of the EU27, meeting in Brussels on 25 January for an informal Council meeting, discussed how to step up the fight against drug trafficking, the day after the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the Commission launched the European Ports Alliance against drug trafficking.
The launch took place in the Belgian port of Antwerp, where 116 tonnes of cocaine were seized in 2023.
According to the Belgian Minister for the Interior, Annelies Verlinden, the discussion focused in particular on operational solutions to prevent the activity of criminal networks and drug traffickers, and on the resilience of infrastructures, particularly ports.
The ministers also discussed how to “strengthen the exchange of information” in the fight against drugs and measures against corruption. Synergies with Latin America were also discussed, with the Minister expressing Member States’ concerns about the security situation in Ecuador.
The recruitment of minors into criminal activities and the role of online platforms were also raised.
Preparing to continue providing care for Ukrainian refugees
In the morning, the ministers and their representatives also reviewed the migration situation in the EU with the latest data from Frontex, and briefly discussed the Asylum and Migration Pact, which is now due to be finalised under the Belgian Presidency.
For Belgium’s Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Nicole de Moor, this ‘Pact’, while not revolutionising the situation on the ground overnight, will enable “better management of migration”.
In addition, the EU27 have begun to discuss the continuity of care for the 4 million Ukrainian refugees in the EU when the war could continue beyond 2025.
They have discussed the harmonisation of this care, but have not yet made a decision at this stage on extending the measures relating to the directive on temporary protection beyond March 2025. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)