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Justice and Home Affairs Council (Home Affairs), 12 December 2024
Main results
Schengen area
The Council has adopted a decision to lift checks on persons at the internal land borders with and between Bulgaria and Romania from 1 January 2025.
Today’s decision to lift checks on persons at the internal land borders with Bulgaria and Romania marks a milestone for the Schengen area. We welcome Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen family.
Sándor Pintér, Hungarian Minister for Home Affairs
Since their accession to the EU, Bulgaria and Romania have applied parts of the Schengen legal framework (the Schengen acquis), including those related to external border controls, police cooperation and the use of the Schengen Information System.
On 30 December 2023, the Council adopted a decision to apply, from 31 March 2024, the remaining parts of the Schengen acquis and to lift checks on persons at internal air and sea borders.
Ministers discussed the state of the Schengen area and exchanged views on the implementation of the priorities of the annual Schengen Council cycle, focusing on increasing overall security through digitalisation.
Entry/Exit System (EES) and interoperability between EU law enforcement IT systems
The Commission and eu-LISA (the EU agency overseeing IT systems in the area of security and justice) briefed ministers on the way forward for starting EES operations. The Commission provided information about its proposal, published on 4 December 2024, for a progressive entry into operation.
Member states supported the presidency’s proposal on the need to draw up a new roadmap which will minimise the expected consequences.
The EES is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals who are travelling to the EU for a short stay. Under the new system, border officers will scan the fingerprints or take a photo of those crossing the border for the first time. This information will be recorded in a digital file.
The EES is part of a wider range of crime-fighting and border security IT systems that the EU is due to deploy in the next few years. These include the ETIAS travel authorisation system – a system that will check the security, migration and health risks posed by non-EU nationals who do not need a visa to enter the Schengen area.
Ministers discussed the way forward and gave guidance for further work on access to data for effective law enforcement. As the digitalisation of our societies provides the conditions for criminals to take advantage of technological advances in order to commit crimes, effective access to data for law enforcement purposes has emerged as a key challenge for criminal investigations and prosecutions.
This exchange of views took place a few weeks after a high-level group, which was established on 6 June 2023, presented its concluding report on this subject.
By the first half of 2025, the Commission will have prepared a roadmap for the implementation of concrete measures to guarantee access to data for effective law enforcement.
Ministers also approved Council conclusions on access to data for effective law enforcement.
The Commission gave an update on the implementation of the migration and asylum reforms, a set of EU laws that was adopted in May of this year. Member states and the Commission are currently taking preparatory steps for these laws to apply from June 2026. On the basis of guidelines from the Commission, member states have prepared national implementation plans setting out the actions and timeline for the implementation of the laws.
At the ministerial working lunch, ministers discussed the external dimension of migration. The Hungarian presidency initiated a number of discussions on this subject. Furthermore, in October 2024, the European Council called for ‘new ways to prevent and counter irregular migration, in line with EU and international law’.
Legislative and operational planning in the area of freedom, security and justice
Ministers approved strategic guidelines for legislative and operational planning in the area of freedom, security and justice. The guidelines will shape the direction of EU policy in this area for the next five years.
The strategic guidelines are a key instrument for shaping the direction of EU policy in the area of freedom, security and justice and establish the framework for implementing the relevant aspects of the EU’s Strategic Agenda 2024-2029.
Home affairs ministers received the six-monthly update on the current threat landscape. The presidency also provided information on the progress made on its priorities in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime: operational cooperation between customs authorities and police, the European Ports Alliance and unlocking the potential of the Schengen Information System.
The Council did not agree on a presidency compromise text for a regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse, with some member states raising concerns as regards the risks to the confidentiality of interpersonal – and, in particular, end-to-end encrypted – communications.
In May 2022, the Commission proposed an EU law that would make it mandatory for internet companies to detect child sexual abuse material on their platforms and report it to the authorities. The draft regulation has since been discussed at length in Council expert meetings.
The presidency briefed ministers on the EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs, which took place in Budva (Montenegro) on 28 and 29 October 2024. The presidency also reported to ministers about the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Budapest Process (held in Budapest on 11 and 12 November 2024).
The incoming Polish presidency of the Council of the EU presented its work programme.
The Council also adopted without discussion the items on the lists of legislative and non-legislative A items.
