Ministers voor meer informatie-uitwisseling bij bestrijding criminaliteit en verscherpte aandacht grensbewaking (en)

The ministers of the interior of the EU have undertaken to improve protection of EU citizens against shared threats such as terrorism, organised crime, drug and human trafficking and cybercrime.

The text approved by the ministers, one of the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the EU, states that, "Steps must be taken to ensure that Member States share information in a timely fashion to prevent crime and prosecute criminals".

Member States have also agreed to further strengthen surveillance on immigrant source countries through the European agency for co-ordinating operational co-operation on external borders (FRONTEX).

With regard to the issues of border security, Spain's minister of the interior Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, after organising the work of the Council, remarked “This is a substantial agreement that adds greater effectiveness to the fight against illegal immigration”.

During a press conference, in which he was accompanied by the Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Sweden's Cecilia Malsmtröm, Rubalcaba expressed his satisfaction with the “relevant set of initiatives” approved during the meeting held on the 25th in Brussels.

Member States also discussed the Libyan visa crisis and expressed their support for Switzerland as a member of the Schengen space. Both countries were called on to strengthen diplomatic efforts to resolve the diplomatic issue.

The dispute was sparked by the brief arrest in Geneva in 2008 of Hannibal, the son of Gaddafi, accused of assaulting two employees. Since then, Libya has refused to let two Swiss entrepreneurs leave the country, prompting Switzerland to add more than one hundred Libyans, including members of Gaddafi's family, to the list of people refused entry to the Schengen area.