Commissaris Barrot blij met verbeterde samenwerking tussen EU en Rusland op het gebied van vrijheid, veiligheid en justitie (en)

On the occasion of the eighth EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council (PPC) on Justice and Home Affairs, Vice-President Jacques Barrot i highlights the progress the EU and Russia have made in implementing their Common Space of Freedom, Security and Justice.

"I have appreciated the constructive and fruitful discussions with the Russian side, particularly in the field of visas, where an excellent dialogue has been established resulting in a common understanding about shared objectives and appropriate methods of achieving them". Vice-President Barrot summarised in St. Petersburg where he participated in the PPC on 24-25 April.

The PPC decided to continue the EU-Russia visa dialogue by organising expert meetings on document security, illegal migration, public order and security, and relevant aspects of external relations.

Approaching one year of their implementation, the PPC considered that the EC-Russia visa facilitation and readmission agreements have offered easier travelling for citizens while combating illegal migration. In this context the EU side, including also the Slovenian Ministers of Interior and Justice as well as representatives of the incoming French Presidency, suggested to maintain a dialogue on regularisation of status of EU citizens residing in Russia.

The participants welcomed the adoption of the joint cooperation plan between FRONTEX and the Russian border guard service, and exchanges of views were held on local border traffic agreements, border treaties and demarcation, and human resources and infrastructure at the EU-Russia borders.

The PPC expressed its concern about the Afghan drugs and pledged to continue a structured expert level dialogue on drugs precursors. The participants updated on operational cooperation to fight organised crime such as future threat assessments and the work of liaison officers. In particular, Vice-President Barrot proposed to the Presidential Aide Viktor Ivanov that the EU and Russia organise a common conference on the fight against cybercrime. Vice-President Barrot welcomed the ongoing negotiations between the European Police College and Russia on a cooperation agreement and looked forward to further clarifications on Russia's data protection system so that Europol and Eurojust might proceed towards with their agreements with Russia.

Finally, the participants considered the state of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Building on the informal talks between the Commission and Russia, the PPC looked forward to concrete results in judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters.