At the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 9/10 June 2022, Ministers discussed several issues on how the EU needs to react to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

A discussion paper by the French Council Presidency summarised the judicial responses to the situation in Ukraine and sought guidance on other useful measures, in particular political responses at the EU level. Justice Ministers agreed to continue the coordination begun by the French presidency to support investigation and prosecution in relation to international crimes. They reiterated their commitment to ensuring that, to the fullest extent possible, this war does not cause even greater suffering for displaced minors. They confirmed the importance of a political response at EU level. The Ministers also discussed the Commission’s proposal of 25 May 2022 to extend the list of “EU crimes” to violations of EU restrictive measures (→ separate news item). In general, they responded to this proposal positively and agreed that negotiations at technical level should resume quickly.

The Home Affairs Ministers took stock of the 10-point action plan for stronger coordination on welcoming persons fleeing the war. The plan was presented by the Commission at the Justice and Home Affairs meeting of 28 March 2022. The Ministers stressed the need to continue work on the full implementation of the plan. This particularly concerns support for the reception and integration of people fleeing the war and assistance to Moldova. They also examined whether further action might need to be taken in the medium and long term, in particular with regard to contingency plans and possible additional financial needs. The Home Affairs Ministers also discussed measures to prevent and combat the possible trafficking in human beings and firearms and stressed the importance of remaining very vigilant on the evolution of criminal threats (→ Commission’s fourth progress report on EU Security Union Strategy [separate news item]).