Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan meets key members of the European Parliament working on migration, security, fighting serious and organised crime and the protection of fundamental rights.
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí:
- Minister meets key members of Justice and Home Affairs European Parliamentary Committees
- Discusses effective implementation of the Asylum and Migration Pact and securing speedy agreement on the new returns measure
- Focuses on ongoing work to agree measures to fight serious and organised crime
- Outlines work underway to prepare Ireland’s European Presidency programme
Minister O’Callaghan today held a series of meeting with key Members of the European Parliament (MEP), ahead of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union next July.
Over the course of the day, the Minister met with leading members of the two Parliamentary Committees that deal with Justice and Home Affairs issues including asylum and migration policies, fighting serious and organised crime, the internal security of the EU, the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law. The Minister also met with a number of Irish MEPs and their advisors.
Taking the opportunity to engage with the MEPs, Minister O’Callaghan raised the importance of full implementation of the Asylum and Migration Pact to provide a more coherent and consistent approach across all Member States, as well as the importance of agreeing the new returns measure to ensure there can be prompt removal of people deemed not to need international protection.
The Minister also discussed ongoing work to agree measures to fight serious and organised crime and the need to strengthen all elements of the EU’s internal security in a particularly challenging geo-political environment. Other issues of note discussed were the protection of fundamental rights and the importance of reinforcing the application of the Rule of Law across the EU.
The Minister also spoke to the MEPs about ongoing work to prepare Ireland’s Presidency programme, how we might work closely and effectively with the Parliament to advance the interest and priorities of the Union, and how engagements like these are an opportunity to increase cooperation between the Member States and the European Parliament.
Speaking on the engagements Minister O’ Callaghan said:
“I welcomed this opportunity to meet with a number of Members of the Parliament including Irish MEPs Billy Kelleher, Barry Cowen, Regina Doherty and Michael McNamara to discuss key Justice and Home Affairs issues.
“The role of the European Parliament as co-legislator requires close working relations between this important institution and the Member States. The Parliament is directly elected by the people and its aim of serving the interests of the citizens of the Union, is very much a shared aim.
“The European Parliament will be one of our key interlocutors as Ireland takes on the Presidency of the European Union next year and I look forward to working closely with Members and officials to make progress in the areas of most importance to the Union.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Minister O’ Callaghan met with the following MEPs:
- MEP Javier Zarzalejos, LIBE Committee Chair
- MEP Birgit Sippel, S&D coordinator of Parliament’s LIBE Committee
- MEP Tineke Strik, Greens’ coordinator of LIBE Committee
- MEP Malik Azmani, Rapporteur on the Returns Proposal
- MEP Sergey Lagodinsky, Greens’ coordinator of Parliament’s JURI Committee
- MEP Rene Repasi, S&D coordinator of JURI Committee
- MEP Billy Kelleher
- MEP Barry Cowen
- MEP Regina Doherty
- MEP Michael McNamara
In short, the Rule of Law is about protecting the fundamental values on which the EU is built. This includes protecting democracy, ensuring free and fair elections, protecting the independence of the judiciary, ensuring the separation of powers and equality before the law, and the protection and promotion of fundamental rights.
