By: UKOM
The Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs and the Minister of Justice Marjan Dikaučič, current Chairs of the EU Home Affairs Council and EU Justice Council respectively, will attend the EU-US Justice and Home Affairs ministerial meeting in Washington on 16 December 2021.
The ministerial meeting will also be attended by the European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, the Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders and a delegation of the General Secretariat of the EU Council. The EU-US Justice and Home Affairs ministerial meeting is a regular meeting on the EU-USA level held by each Presidency. The agenda will consist of justice and home affairs topics of shared EU and US interest.
The home affairs agenda will include a discussion on migration and asylum, the fight against migrant smuggling and instrumentalisation of migrants and the report on the first meeting of the resumed EU-USA Migration Platform. The participants will also talk about visa reciprocity, the relaxation of international travel restrictions and recognition of the EU digital COVID certificate. The participants will also discuss cooperation and priorities in countering terrorism and violent extremism. The Slovenian Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs, current Chair of the EU Home Affairs Council said: “The goal of the meeting with our transatlantic partners is to strengthen the cooperation and the resilience of our societies and so contribute to a higher level of security in the EU and the world. We will reaffirm this commitment in a joint statement.”
The agenda in the field of justice will focus on countering cybercrime, the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation, the contribution of justice to the sustainability goals, access to justice and the rule of law.