UPDATE: The deadline for accreditation to the informal meeting of justice and home affairs ministers has been extended to Monday 12 July 2021 at 8:00.
Under the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Informal Meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers will be held from 15 to 16 July 2021. 15 July will be dedicated to home affairs and 16 July will be dedicated to justice.
Ministers of interior will talk about combating crime in the digital age, especially the impact of digital files on the work of crime investigation and prosecution authorities. Ministers will be shown a practical demonstration of how the proposed regulation on artificial intelligence will impact their work. Slovenian minister of the interior Aleš Hojs will present the conclusions of last June’s Brdo Process conference and invite ministers to a discussion on EU’s assistance to Western Balkan countries in addressing migration challenges. Potential for progress in negotiations on the new Pact on Migration and Asylum will be the topic of the working lunch. Afternoon session will be dedicated to the Schengen strategy and the debate on member states’ expectations regarding the Revision of the Schengen border code, which European Commission is to present in autumn.
Ministers of Justice will exchange views on the justice-related aspects of the recent proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Act. The Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights will also take part in the discussion. They will focus on the impact of the proposal on the future development and use of AI systems in the justice sector from a fundamental rights perspective, with an emphasis on the right to privacy and data protection. In the second part of the meeting, ministers will discuss aspects of child-friendly justice as one of the thematic areas of the new EU strategy on the Rights of the Child, focusing on the multidisciplinary and interinstitutional approach developed under Barnahus Children’s Home concept. At the forefront will be the need to provide comprehensive and ongoing support to children during and upon completion of the court proceedings. During a working lunch, the justice ministers will discuss digital inheritance, with the objective of identifying the most urgent issues related to digital estates and identifying what measures could be taken at European level.
