The European Union Justice Ministers want illegal content to be removed from the internet in order to combat online child sexual abuse, hate speech and other crimes “with the cooperation of the service providers under the scope of the draft Digital Services Act”. Attention was called to this need at the informal video conference of Justice Ministers yesterday, which was chaired by Portuguese Minister Francisca Van Dunem.
Moving forward with the digitalisation of justice in the European Union is also a common priority for the Member States. The Minister of Justice noted the possibility of using funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility for this. According to the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, each Member State is expected to earmark 20% of the funds they receive for the digital transition.
Over the past four years, the prison population fell from 13,779, at the end of 2016, to 11,300 at the end of 2020, which translates into a reduction of about.
The Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union wants to quickly conclude an agreement with the European Parliament on the provisions of the EU law on privacy in electronic communications to combat child sexual abuse on the internet.
To try to unblock the current deadlock, and given the “fundamentally different” positions of the two institutions on the draft regulation aimed at a temporary waiver of certain provisions of the directive on privacy and electronic communications, the Minister of Justice and President-in-Office of the EU Council of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, has written to the European Parliament (EP) to intensify political negotiations, with a view to a compromise that she considers urgent.
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Ministers are outlining the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU to parliamentary committees, in a series of meetings.
Portugal holds the Presidency of the Council until the end of June 2021. The first set of hearings takes place between 25 and 28 January. A second set of hearings will take place the following week. This press release will be updated regularly.
Foreign Affairs
On 26 January,
Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto Santos Silva outlined a range of external action priorities to the Foreign Affairs Committee. He spoke of the importance of reviving the transatlantic dialogue between the EU and the new Biden administration, promoting stronger ties between the EU and the Asia-Pacific region, notably India, as well as intensifying EU cooperation with Africa and the African Union, for example when it comes to finalising a new Post-Cotonou Partnership Agreement.
MEPs: Portugal risks undermining trust in EU prosecutor
EU justice commissioner Dider Reynders (l) and Portugal s justice minister Francisca Van Dunem at a pre-Covid council meeting in Brussels (Photo: Council of the European Union)
Brussels, 27. Jan, 07:10
MEPs quizzed the Portuguese justice minister on Tuesday (26 January) over Lisbon s push for a prosecutor to be appointed to the EU s prosecutor office (EPPO) contrary to the advice of a European expert panel.
Lawmakers on the joint meeting of the civil liberties and budget control committee warned that concerns over the appointment of the Portuguese prosecutor could undermine the new EU s prosecutors office.
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