The agreement on the new Justice programme is an important step towards a more effective, accessible and digitalised European area of justice, Minister of Justice and Public Order, Costas Fytiris, said on Friday during a press conference after the EU Justice and Home Affairs (Justice) Council meeting which took place in Luxembourg.
The main topics on the agenda were the approval of a partial mandate for the new “Justice” programme, the discussion on the recognition of parenthood in cross-border cases, as well as developments in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Fytiris, who chaired the Council said that the agreement on the new Justice programme is an important step towards a more effective, accessible and digitalised European area of justice. He explained that the programme will support cross-border cooperation, will improve access to justice, and will strengthen the independence of judicial systems in the European Union.
At the same time, he noted that this is also an important achievement in the context of the work undertaken by the Cypriot Presidency for the EU’s long-term budget and its commitment to promoting work on the MFF.
Cross-border parenthood
Referring to the proposal on the recognition of parenthood in cross-border cases, the Minister spoke of an important file on which technical work has been ongoing for more than three and a half years. He pointed out that the final objective of the proposal is the protection of all children, regardless of their place of birth and regardless of the form of their family.
He added that a political discussion was held in order to guide experts and provide a clearer direction to the negotiations, while a revised text will be circulated taking into account the comments of member states.
The Minister of Justice said that a revision of the regulation on the access of EPPO and OLAF to VAT information at EU level is ongoing, and is expected to be completed during the summer and is assessed to strengthen the effectiveness of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Hungary in EPPO
The Minister also welcomed the announcement of Hungary’s intention to join EPPO, describing it as an important milestone which will strengthen the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and send a strong message against fraud.
Regarding Ukraine, the Minister said that the contribution of the Justice and Home Affairs Council focused on combating impunity for crimes related to the war. He added that the issue has been on the agenda of all Justice Council meetings since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, while the Commission and Eurojust presented the latest developments in this area.
At the same time, the Minister stressed that the meeting concluded with a discussion on hate crimes and hate speech.
Concluding, the Minister stated that it had been an honour for him to chair the Council of Justice Ministers and thanked his counterparts and Commissioner McGrath for their cooperation over the past months. He made special reference to the political agreement recently reached on the Regulation on the protection of adults, which ensures that vulnerable adults continue to receive the necessary support even when they move to another EU country. This, he noted, was a priority of the Cypriot Presidency, and work will continue at the same pace until the end of its term.
Source: CNA
