Weekly Roundup: 17 July

European Commission
EuroCOP meets with Commissioner Johansson
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson met with EuroCOP President Angels Bosch, and Vice President Calum Steele to discuss issues facing police offices across Europe (link).

European Commission and Europol launch organised crime project
The European Commission will fund a Europol-led project to target organised crime in the ‘Eastern neighbourhood’ of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The four-year project (link) will support cooperation between law enforcement authorities in the region to tackle organised criminal groups more effectively.
European Parliament
German Presidency presents priorities to MEPs
Representatives of the German Presidency of the Council have presented their priorities to European Parliament Committees over the past week.

  • Civil Liberties (link): Interior Minister Horst Seehofer stressed the need to improve cooperation between security forces and to tackle right-wing extremism. The Commission’s forthcoming migration and asylum policy reform will also be a priority during the second half of the year.
  • Security and Defence (link): Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said the Presidency’s focus will be on improving resilience to hybrid threats, including challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Employment and Social Affairs (link): The priorities in this area will be a legislative proposal for a minimum wage, Council conclusions on basic social security systems, and ensuring that Artificial Intelligence supports rather than replaces employees, according to Labour and Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil.
National updates
Germany: According to a report from Stuttgarter Zeitung (link), the chief of police expressed interest in investigating the family origins of those suspected of rioting, which was strongly criticised.

Serbia: Civil Society Organisations urge EU to insist on fundamental values amidst political crisis and police brutality (link)

UK: Police warn that a no-deal Brexit will make police cooperation harder (link)
Other news
European Fundamental Rights agency publishes annual report
The Fundamental Rights Report 2020 (link) reviews developments in the field of fundamental rights in 2020, setting out achievements and issues to be tackled. The report covers issues including gender equality, racism and xenophobia, asylum and migration, privacy, and the rights of the child. The report includes a specific recommendation that EU Member States should develop specific, practical and ready-to-use guidance to ensure that police officers do not conduct discriminatory ethnic profiling in the exercise of their duties.

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