Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Security, Étienne Schneider, was in Amsterdam Monday to attend the informal Justice and Home Affairs Coucil meeting.
Ministers came together to discuss the exchange of information and intelligence between Member States and Europol and Interpol in the fight against terrorism. A priority of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU, being held from January to June 2016, will be to identify ways of optimising the sharing of information by establishing the legal and operational factors which create obstacles to such an exchange. This subject was initiated under the Luxembourg Presidency, and the Deputy PM welcomed the follow-up that will be provided by the Netherlands.
"The services must work together to protect our citizens from terrorist threats," commented Minister Schneider. "To optimise the tools available, the development of a standardised approach to the use of various existing databases is paramount."
The fight against cybercrime, a second objective of the Dutch Presidency, was also at the heart of the Amsterdam discussions.
On the sidelines of the Council, Étienne Schneider participated in a debate on foreign terrorist fighters, before engaging in bilateral exchanges with his European counterparts.
Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Jean Asselborn, is also in Amsterdam today to join the migration section of the proceedings.
Photo by Dutch Presidency 2016 (L-R: Director of Europol, Rob Wainwright, the Dutch Minister of Justice and Home Affairs; Art van der Steur; European Commissioner, Dimitri Avramopoulos.)
