Cypriotisch voorzitterschap hecht groot belang aan onderwerpen op gebied van justitie en veiligheid (en)
The Cyprus Presidency will promote issues of particular importance to the daily life of European citizens in the area of justice and security, such as data protection and the support of female crime victims. The Minister of Justice and Public Order, Mr. Loucas Louca, presented the Presidency's priorities before three European Parliament Committees.
Today, July 10, the Minister of Justice and Public Order of Cyprus, Mr. Loucas Louca, outlined these issues as well as other priorities of the Presidency before two Committees of the European Parliament, as an indication of the great significance the Presidency attributes to the cooperation with the Parliament. Yesterday, July 9, the minister presented the priorities of the Cyprus Presidency to the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) and today to the LIBE (Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs) and FEMM (Women Rights and Gender Equality) Committees.
Enhancing legal tools regarding cross-border disputes
At the JURI Committee, the minister pointed out that the Cyprus Presidency will cooperate closely with the Parliament so that they can finalise the work on the adoption of the amendment of the Brussels I-regulation. While the existing regulation is indeed an indispensable tool for resolving cross-border disputes in civil and commercial matters involving EU i citizens, it still requires further simplification and modernisation.
Within this framework, the Cyprus Presidency will also do its utmost to further promote the Proposal for a European Account Preservation Order, which aims at facilitating cross border debt recovery. Presenting this particular priority, the minister said:
“The Presidency aims to proceed further with the discussions at working group level, aiming to come up with a full proposal”.
Freezing and seizing proceeds of crime
During the minister’s presentation before the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Mr. Louca highlighted the Presidency priority of combating the profitable illegal activities of criminal groups acting transnationally by achieving significant progress on the proposalregarding the freezing and confiscation of the proceeds of crime. The proposal is extremely important as it inter alia improves the capacity of member states to confiscate and freeze proceeds of crime. To this end, “the Presidency will work hard towards achieving an agreement within the Council, and that’s the reason why we have organised a substantial number of meetings as well as a conference on this issue”, the minister said.
Protection of rights and boost to growth through data protection reform
The Cyprus Presidency strongly believes in the necessity of the modernisation of data protection rules to achieve better controlof personal data, strengthen online privacy rights and boost Europe’s digital economy. In this respect, advancing negotiations on data protection reform constitutes one of the priorities of the Cyprus Presidency, which the minister presented before the LIBE Committee.
Focus on support services tofemale victims of violence
With regard to the FEMM Committee, the minister informed its members that the Cyprus Presidency has set combating violence against women as its main priority, focusing particularly on the support services directed to female victims of crime.
Schengen Governance
Responding to questions regarding the Schengen governance, the minister noted that the Cypriot Presidency is fully aware of the political sensitivities linked to the issue and highlighted the Presidency΄s commitment for the best means to be found so that the Council and the Parliament continue their close cooperation in a constructive spirit. “I sincerely hope that together we can reach a base on which we will agree, in order for us to promote this important task and thus ensure that it will be completed soon. It will, therefore, become possible to establish an improved Schengen evaluation, which is everyone’s goal”, the minister added.