The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Amber Rudd)
The next Justice and Home Affairs Council of the Slovak presidency will take place on 8 and 9 December in Brussels. The Minister for Courts and Justice, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for North East Hertfordshire (Sir Oliver Heald), and the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, my right hon. Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis), will represent the UK.
The Justice day (8 December) will begin with a discussion about the latest developments on the European Public Prosecutor (EPPO) dossier, which the UK will not participate in.
Next on the agenda will be a progress report on discussions with the European Parliament on a compromise approach to the proposal for a directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law (PIF directive). The compromise would have the effect of bringing serious VAT fraud within the scope of the directive. The UK has not opted in to this proposal on the grounds that it would infringe on member states’ competence to control their own taxes.
This will be followed by the first reading of a proposal for a directive concerning contracts for the supply of digital content. The Council will discuss three elements of the proposal with a view to providing indications of Ministers’ preferred approach to ongoing negotiations in Council working group. The UK will continue to promote practicality of application, proportionality and, where appropriate, consistency with existing law.
The final substantive item of the day will cover criminal justice in cyberspace. The presidency will provide updates on progress on two linked issues: securing e-evidence for use in criminal justice proceedings; and how to tackle challenges around encrypted data. The UK’s legislative position on encryption has recently been clarified with Royal Assent of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 on 29 November. We support the presidency’s overarching position of continuing to work to find solutions that ensure our law enforcement agencies can access encrypted data in tightly prescribed circumstances, while respecting the role that encryption plays in protecting citizens’ data.
The Interior day (9 December) will begin with an update on negotiations relating to the reform of common European asylum system (CEAS). Negotiations are ongoing in relation to the inclusion of arrangements for the large-scale relocation of asylum seekers/refugees within the proposed Dublin IV regulation. The UK has not opted in to these regulations. The presidency will also present recent revisions to Eurodac proposals, to which we have opted in. Eurodac has the potential to be a powerful tool in the fight against serious crime and terrorism. We welcome the recent changes to the proposal to make law enforcement access easier in order to support wider security and law enforcement objectives.
The next item will focus on proposals to establish an entry/exit system (EES) to register the movements (and refusals) of third country nationals. As this is a Schengen area measure the UK will not participate. After this the Commission will present its legislative proposals for enhancing the functionality of the second generation Schengen information system (SIS II). We understand these proposals will be published by the Commission the day before the Council, so are not expecting any substantive discussion.
On the migration item, discussion will focus on implementation of the EU-Turkey deal and talks on “effective solidarity” mechanisms for burden sharing around irregular migrant flows. The UK is focused on supporting practical efforts to implement the EU-Turkey deal. The UK will announce an additional package of support to Greece including up to an extra 40 staff over the winter period to support this process and ease congestion on the increasingly overcrowded islands. In particular, we are looking to provide flow management (as recommended by the McKinsey report), case-workers and interpreters (as requested by Greece) and returns expertise (as recommended/requested by both).
On the fight against terrorism item the Commission will update on ongoing co-operation between the EU, member states’ law enforcement agencies and electronic communication service providers to prevent the spread of extremist content that supports radicalisation. It will also cover policy options for tackling the threat to the European Union from returning foreign fighters. The European Counter Terrorism Co-ordinator will present a paper addressing the threat picture, information sharing, criminal justice and disengagement among other topics, which we expect the Council to endorse without a substantive debate.
Finally there will be a short item on how Governments can share best practice in preparing for attacks, drawing lessons from other CT incidents. The UK will outline its approach to preparedness, and encourage EU engagement with information-sharing initiatives.
[HCWS328]