EU Member States’ justice and home affairs ministers will meet on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 June in Luxembourg for a Council meeting marking one of the last major milestones under the aegis of the Cyprus Presidency.
Home Affairs. Thursday 4 June will be devoted entirely to security, border management and migration policy issues. At the opening of the session, ministers will examine the state of the Schengen area: the European Commission will present its evaluation report for 2026, which will enable the Council to define the priority actions for the 2026-2027 cycle. The focus will be on the deployment of new large-scale IT systems.
In this respect, a senior European diplomat welcomed a “major milestone”, namely the entry into operation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) on 10 April (see EUROPE 13845/7), considered crucial in view of summer tourist flows. The report will also confirm the positive assessment of Cyprus’ process of accession to the Schengen area.
The implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, scheduled for 12 June, will be the other major issue of the day. While the Commission has already deployed significant accompanying efforts, notably with the appointment of liaison officers in each Member State, its latest progress report reveals major technical and logistical disparities (see EUROPE 13878/2).
On this point, Hungary is giving rise to particular concern for not yet having submitted its implementation plan, but also because of its continuing opposition to border procedures and detention capacity. Faced with fears of a chaotic start, a diplomatic source nevertheless assured that ministers “will stress the urgency for everyone to finalise preparations”.
Ministers will also welcome the political agreement concluded in extremis with the European Parliament on the ‘Return Regulation’, seen as an indispensable pillar of the Pact (see EUROPE 13879/4).
Lastly, the Council will address the external dimension of migration, with targeted attention on cooperation with Somalia, a country located on a route where irregular migratory flows towards the European continent more than doubled between 2024 and 2025. The objective is to activate concrete tools, such as readmission agreements, to reverse this trend.
Justice. During the day of the meeting of justice ministers, on Friday 5 June, one of the main points for discussion will concern the proposed regulation on the recognition of parenthood in cross-border situations, put forward by the Commission in December 2022 (see EUROPE 13079/9) in order to ensure that a parent-child relationship established in one Member State is recognised throughout the European Union. Indeed, nearly two million children could currently face difficulties when their parenthood, legally established in one Member State, is not recognised in another, notably in matters of parental responsibility or succession.
Ministers are also expected to adopt a partial negotiating mandate on the future ‘Justice’ programme for the 2028-2034 period. This programme, which is integrated into the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2028-2034), will support judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, the training of judges and prosecutors, as well as the independence of the judiciary. Particular attention will be paid to the digitalisation of procedures in cross-border cases and to combating serious forms of crime such as corruption, terrorism or environmental crime.
The war waged by Russia against Ukraine is also on the agenda. The European Commission and the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) will inform ministers of the latest developments concerning investigations into crimes committed in Ukraine. Since the start of the Russian invasion, this issue has been on the agenda of every ‘Justice and Home Affairs’ Council. The discussions will take place nearly one year after the signing, on 25 June last year in Strasbourg (see EUROPE 13668/9), of the agreement establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
In addition, ministers will receive Laura Kövesi, the outgoing European Chief Prosecutor, who will present an update on the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud and Nithya Paquiry)