In the light of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, the exchange of views at the meeting mainly focused on the judicial aspects of countering terrorism and towards the best practices for tackling such challenging problem.
The Chair of the meeting, Italian Justice Minister Andrea Orlando declared that “after the shocking terrorist events we have witnessed on our continent, as PES Justice Ministers, it is in our duty to work for the reinforcement of the current measures to prevent and combat terrorism. It is of outmost importance to preserve the security of the European citizens but at the same time we ought to fully ensure that all fundamental rights are clearly respected”.
Following the anti-terrorism recommendations formulated at the last Informal European Council and the calls for the implementation of an EU Passenger Name Records (PNR) directive, the PES ministers also debated, at length, the state of play of the key EU Data Retention Directive.
The ministers then agreed to meet in June before the last JHA reunion under the Latvian presidency of the EU.
List of participants:
– Andrea Orlando, Minister of Justice, Italy, Chair
– Christiane Taubira, Minister of Justice, France
– Heiko Maas, Minister of Justice, Germany
– Owen Bonnici, Minister of Justice, Malta
– Robert Cazanciuc, Minister of Justice, Romania
– Morgan Johansson, Minister of Justice, Sweden
– Birgit Sippel, MEP S&D LIBE Coordinator, Germany
– Yonnec Polet, PES Deputy Secretary General
