| European Commission |
| Home Affairs Commissioner shares views on Moria and Security Union Strategy The EU Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, appeared before the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee on 10 September to discuss the situation in Moria and the Security Union Strategy (link). The Commissioner called for a coordinated response to the Moria fires, regretting that the EU has not yet managed to agree a common migration and asylum policy. She is expected to propose new rules around migration and asylum at the end of September, which are expected to create a single legal framework. The rules are expected to increase legal routes for migration as well as resettlement programmes and returning failed asylum seekers. Under the umbrella of the Security Union Strategy, the Commission published on 10 September new rules to tackle child sexual exploitation. The proposal is a targeted piece of legislation to ensure that online communications services can continue to apply voluntary measures for the detection, reporting and removal of child sexual abuse material. This will be followed by a more comprehensive proposal next year that will introduce obligations to detect and report these materials to the public authorities. |
| Council |
| EuroCOP meets with German Presidency of the Council EuroCOP’s President and Vice Presidents met with representatives of the German Presidency of the Council this week for an open exchange of views on issues including the need for police cooperation, the need for sufficient resources and training, health and safety concerns and access to data. The German Presidency is working to develop a European Police Partnership, which intends to improve coordination between European police forces and which will feed into the revision of Europol’s mandate, expected next year. |
| National updates |
| · Austria: Police to continue using facial recognition after trial period (link)
· Greece: Extra riot police flown in after Moria fires (link) · Slovenia: Police have stepped up controls on border with Croatia (link) · UK: Police Scotland urged to bring forward delayed staff survey (link) · UK: Report published on how well the Police Service of Northern Ireland treats its workforce (link) |
| Other news |
| EU-UK talks continue A special meeting of the Joint Committee – the body set up to ensure the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement – was held in London this week. This week’s negotiating round has shown little to no progress between the two sides, with the EU suggesting that the UK has made little effort to engage on topics the EU considers crucial including the level playing field, credible horizontal dispute settlement mechanisms, judicial and law enforcement cooperation as well as fisheries (link). Informal negotiations will continue until the next formal round begins on 28 September. CoE: Equality Committee discusses AI and ethnic profiling ETUC: EU countries with weak collective bargaining have lowest wages CoE Conference of INGOs: humanitarian and political emergency in Greece The Migration Task Force of the Council of Europe’s Conference of INGOs has expressed its indignation at the conditions in the Moria refugee camp, recalling the Berlin Agreement on a solidarity mechanism for the reception of migrants in the Mediterranean (link). |
Look ahead
- 14 September: European Parliament plenary session. Issues include combatting the sexual exploitation of children
- 16 September: Commission President von der Leyen delivers ‘2020 State of the Union’address
- 17 September: European Parliament plenary session. Issues include debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
- 18 September: Commissioner Didier Reynders (Justice) speaks at conference of the European Justice Network in civil matters (EJN civil) ‘Digitalization of civil justice and judicial cooperation’