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Justice and Home Affairs Council (Home Affairs), 13 June 2025
Main results
Home affairs
Temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees
The Council reached a political agreement on extending temporary protection for people displaced from Ukraine by a further year until March 2027. The final adoption of the decision will happen in the coming weeks.
While Russia continues to terrorise Ukrainian civilians with indiscriminate air strikes the EU continues to show its solidarity with the Ukrainian people. We will continue to offer protection for millions of Ukrainian refugees for another year. The Polish presidency also initiated discussion on a strategy to phase out temporary protection once a just peace is achieved. In the near future, we will work towards common, EU-wide solutions in this area, including in the context of returns to Ukraine.
Tomasz Siemoniak, Polish Minister for the Interior and Administration
The EU activated the temporary protection mechanism for refugees from Ukraine in March 2022. This mechanism, based on an EU law adopted in 2021, was established to deal with exceptional circumstances of mass influx. Temporary protection for people displaced from Ukraine has already been extended three times and would have expired in March 2026.
Ministers also discussed a Council recommendation to prepare for a coordinated transition out of temporary protection. The recommendation will address matters such as switching to other residence statuses, paving the way for a gradual return to Ukraine and stepping up the provision of information about available options.
IT infrastructure for border management and law enforcement
Ministers were updated on the development of the EU’s border management and law enforcement IT infrastructure.
The presidency briefed ministers on how things stand with the Entry/Exit System (EES), with a particular focus on its phased rollout. On 19 May the Council and the European Parliament agreed to allow member states to progressively start operation of the EES. According to the roadmap, which the Council endorsed in March 2025, this phased approach should start in October 2025.
The EES will register entry, exit and refusal of entry of non-EU nationals who cross the EU’s external borders for a short-term stay. The new system will capture facial images and fingerprints of those crossing the border for the first time and record this information in a digital file.
40 years after the signing of the Schengen agreement on 14 June 1985, ministers approved a Schengen declaration. With the declaration, the Council renews its commitment to the Schengen area and underlines the importance of Schengen for European cooperation and integration.
Ministers also exchanged views on the priorities for the Schengen area for the next 12 months. The priority areas and operational actions endorsed by the Council for the period 2025-2026 are:
accelerating the digitalisation of procedures and systems and enhancing the preparedness of large-scale IT systems
strengthening the resilience of external borders and the effectiveness of returns
increasing internal security while striving for free movement in an area without internal border controls
With regard to migration, during their working lunch, ministers focused on returns, in particular on increasing readmission cooperation with non-EU countries. By leveraging its visa policy the EU has been able to improve readmission cooperation with a number of countries of origin.
The Commission also presented the state of play in the implementation of the common European asylum system (CEAS). This year the Commission will for the first time formally assess the migration situation in member states. This will trigger the process of member states pledging solidarity contributions.
When discussing the external dimension of migration, ministers also touched upon the situation in Libya and its consequences for migratory flows towards Europe.
The Council exchanged views on the European internal security strategy, ProtectEU, on the basis of the Commission communication presented on 1 April this year. Member states broadly welcomed ProtectEU as an important contribution to strengthening the EU’s internal security. They supported the broad vision presented by the Commission – combining a focus on security with preparedness – and agreed on the importance of boosting cooperation with non-EU countries.
Ministers also discussed the topic of access to data for law enforcement – an important element of ProtectEU – and in particular concrete short-term measures that could be implemented to facilitate access to data and support law enforcement’s efforts to fight crime. Many member states asked the Commission to urgently present its announced roadmap on access to data. This roadmap is expected to set out legal and practical measures to ensure lawful and effective access to data.
Ministers also discussed the impact of the current geopolitical environment on the EU’s internal security, with a special focus on Ukraine, Moldova and Syria. Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of National Unity of Ukraine as well as Minister of Interior of Moldova participated in these discussions.
The Council also approved conclusions on the next EMPACT cycle (2026-2029). EMPACT is a member-state-driven EU instrument for multidisciplinary and multiagency operational cooperation to fight serious and organised crime. It brings together police, customs and judicial authorities from various member states and at EU level, non-EU actors and the private sector. The EMPACT priorities are based on the EU serious and organised crime threat assessment, prepared by Europol.
Under ‘other business’ the presidency informed delegations about actions it has taken in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime and about a high-level meeting under the CELAC-EU coordination and cooperation mechanism on drugs. CELAC is a regional forum of Latin American and Caribbean states.
The presidency also informed delegates about the ministerial meeting between the US and the EU on justice and home affairs which took place in Warsaw on 2 and 3 June.
Slovenia informed delegations about the 13th ministerial meeting under the Brdo Process, which focused on counter-terrorism and the fight against human trafficking in southeast Europe. Finally, the incoming Danish presidency presented its work programme.
