EU home affairs minister to gather for informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council

Minister of the Interior Kai Mykkänen will attend the informal meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in Innsbruck on 12–13 July. The topics to be addressed at the meeting include European border management, a crisis-resilient asylum system and themes related to police cooperation. As part of the work to reform the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), the Council will also discuss more comprehensive options for making the asylum procedure more efficient and improving disembarkation arrangements.

Finland considers it important that the work to reform the Common European Asylum System be continued in a goal-oriented manner. A key objective of the reform of the Common European Asylum System is to make the System more crisis-resilient. The European Council also noted in June that much progress had been achieved in the reform for a new Common European Asylum System and several files were close to finalisation. It also stressed the need to find a speedy solution to the whole package and invited the Council to continue this work.

It is also necessary to strengthen the management of the EU’s external borders, but this alone will not solve the problems relating to illegal migration.

"The management of migration flows is a huge global challenge. At European level, the best results can be achieved with common European actions and solutions," says Minister Kai Mykkänen.

EU is examining the possibility of establishing disembarkation platforms

The European Council invited the Council to examine the possibility of establishing, in cooperation with UN agencies, regional disembarkation platforms in third countries for people trying to enter Europe and saved at sea. It also proposed that controlled centres for those saved at sea be set up on EU territory on a voluntary basis.　However, the basic premise in managing migration flows must always be to secure and respect human rights in full in accordance with international obligations.

Solutions must be found to tackle human smuggling

The ministers will also discuss police cooperation, intending to focus on human smuggling and community policing. The discussion on human smuggling became topical in the EU between 2015 and 2016 when there was a sharp increase in migration and human smuggling to the EU. Tackling human smuggling calls for effective cooperation between the law enforcement and judicial authorities of the EU Member States and the countries of origin and transit.

In Finland, community policing constitutes carrying out basic police functions competently and efficiently in close contact with residents. Finland has long traditions in community policing, and this kind of policing is a way for the police to gain public confidence. Community policing means, as a rule, policing at national level, not across state borders. However, Finland considers it important that Member States can exchange their experiences and best practices in this field.

Inquiries:

Laura Yli-Vakkuri, Director General, tel. +358 40 720 2216, laura.yli-vakkuri@intermin.fi