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JHA Council, 27-28.9.01

01 August 2001

The scheduled meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council at the end of September was largely pre-occupied with post 11 September measures to combat terrorism.
Three of the proposed measures discussed were directly related to the "anti-terrorist roadmap". The first, the Council reached "political agreement" on the first eight Articles on the Decision setting up Eurojust. The second was a report on steps being taken following the measures agreed at the special JHA Council on 13 July designed to protect EU summits and other international meetings from protests.
The third concerned amendments to the Europol Convention to extend its role. These include: Europol "participation" in joint investigative teams; the "right" of Europol to initiate investigations; and having a "role" in protecting EU summits (presumably through the provision of analysis files and intelligence).
The Council also discussed the proposed Directive on family reunification where there are "numerous problems for several delegations". On the table is a "compromise" on how to deal with three categories: i) the nuclear family; ii) direct ascendants and children of full age and iii) unmarried partners. Only the first category would be obligatory, the other two discretionary.
The proposed Directive on minimum standards for granting or withdrawing refugee status was discussed with the Council hoping to reach agreement at its 6-7 December meeting. The Council reached "political agreement" on the draft Framework Decision on combating the trafficking of human beings, though the European Parliament had not yet delivered its Opinion.

Press release, Justice and Home Affairs Council, 27-28 September 2001.