The Minister for Security (Brandon Lewis)
My noble Friend the Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) has today made the following written statement:
The informal G6 group of Interior Ministers held its most recent meeting in Munich on 28 and 29 October 2019. Representatives from the USA, the European Commission, Interpol and the World Jewish Congress also attended the meeting.
The summit was chaired by the German Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer. I represented the United Kingdom. The other participating states were represented by Sylwester Tulajew (Deputy Minister of the Interior, Poland), Christophe Castaner (Minister of the Interior, France), Luciana Lamorgese (Minister of the Interior, Italy) and Fernando Grande-Marlaska (Minister of the Interior, Spain).
The European Commission was represented by Dimitris Avramopoulos (Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship) and Sir Julian King (Commissioner for the Security Union). The United States was represented by a delegation led by David Pekoske (Acting Deputy Secretary, US Department of Homeland Security). Interpol was represented by Jurgen Stock (Secretary General) and the World Jewish Congress was represented by their president, Ronald Lauder. The European Commission joined all of the plenary sessions.
The first plenary session was on migration and asylum and focused on the reform of the common European asylum system (CEAS). Given the UK did not opt in to the CEAS package, my intervention focused on our commitment to finding sustainable solutions and the “whole of route” approach to migration. This includes increasing the efforts to tackle people trafficking and finding new ways to stop criminal gangs from operating. I highlighted the UK’s major contribution to resettlement of the most vulnerable refugees. I also updated the G6 on the recent tragic incident in Essex where 39 migrants lost their lives.
The second plenary session was on future co-operation with the UK where the discussion covered the mutual benefits of a close security partnership following the UK’s exit from the EU. I made the case for an ambitious UK-EU security partnership in line with the political declaration agreed between the UK and EU, which should exist alongside strengthened bilateral and other multilateral channels of co-operation with our G6 and wider international partners. Interpol joined this discussion. There was broad consensus amongst the G6 to seek a close and comprehensive future security partnership between the UK and EU to protect our citizens.
The day concluded with an informal working dinner, where discussion focused on the current situation in Syria, including the internally displaced persons and security implications. During the discussion I stressed the UK’s dedication to international security and that anything which risks the security of detention facilities threatens the security of us all.
At the third plenary session we were joined by the representatives of Interpol and the World Jewish Congress. Discussion focused on right-wing extremism and antisemitism. I set out the action the UK is taking domestically and internationally to tackle these issues, including in the online world.
The final plenary session covered terrorist content online and the security of 5G networks. I expressed our concern about the European Parliament’s position on the draft EU regulation on tackling terrorist content online, and made the case that only by encouraging a proactive approach by online service providers will we secure a meaningful impact on the terrorist threat. I also set out the UK’s approach to ensuring a secure and resilient 5G network.
At the meeting it was confirmed that the UK will host the next G6 in 2020.
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