Meeting of the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on the&nbsp;Latvian Presidency's Priorities in the area of Justice and Home Affairs in the EP in Brussels.&nbsp;Extracts from the exchange of views with Rihards KOZLOVSKIS, Latvian Minister for the Interior, Dzintars RASNACS, Latvian Minister for Justice,&nbsp;Agust&iacute;n D&Iacute;AZ DE MERA GARC&Iacute;A CONSUEGRA (EPP, ES), Birgit SIPPEL (S&amp;D, DE), Timothy KIRKHOPE (ECR, UK) and Sophia IN'T VELD (ALDE, NL)

Brussels

exchange of views

statement

DÍAZ DE MERA GARCÍA CONSUEGRA, Agustín (EPP, ES)

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

SIPPEL, Birgit (S&D, DE)

IN 'T VELD, Sophia (Renew, NL)

KIRKHOPE, Timothy (ECR, UK)

Latvian Presidency of the EU (T)

KOZLOVSKIS, Rihards (LV)

RASNAČS, Dzintars (LV)

Latvian Presidency's Priorities in the area of Justice and Home Affairs: extracts from the exchange of views with Rihards KOZLOVSKIS, Latvian Minister for the Interior, and Dzintars RASNACS, Latvian Minister for Justice

SOUNDBITE (Latvian), Dzintars RASNACS, Latvian Minister for Justice, "Latvian Presidency believes that it is important to increase EUROJUST operational and institutional efficiency. The role of EUROJUST is particularly important as regards the coordinated investigation of the crime of terrorism. We need to ensure rapid exchange of information. As regards  the progress of this proposal, the Latvian Presidency is willing to adopt a general approach in the Council in March."

SOUNDBITE (Latvian), Rihards KOZLOVSKIS, Latvian Minister for the Interior, "The events in France, and the consequent events in Europe, have increased our concerns regarding our common safety. The response of the EU has to be united and coordinated. Our goal remains the same. Protecting the EU values and freedoms."

SOUNDBITE (Latvian), Rihards KOZLOVSKIS, Latvian Minister for the Interior, "We were all surprised by the phenomenon of the ghost ship. With a cold calculation abandoning vulnerable persons at sea, including children and women. These specific events proved again that it is necessary to provide for a common response of the EU. And we need to pay particular attention to the problems caused by migration. The Latvian Presidency is of the opinion that the EU response should be seen in a wider context. We need to continue to implement the holistic approach when combatting the migration pressure."

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Agust&#237;n D&#205;AZ DE MERA GARC&#205;A CONSUEGRA (EPP, ES), "The EU, to protect its rights, to investigate, to prevent and to repress crime has no less than 16 different agencies. They are numerous, they interfere with eachother, and they are not efficient. It is time we reflect on this, an inter-institutional reflection. The Jihadi threat will not be occasional, unfortunately it will be permanent. And we will need to protect ourselves."

SOUNDBITE (German), Birgit SIPPEL (S&amp;D, DE), "On the question of exchange of information, well that's an area obviously where there is enormous room fro improvement. Looking at what happened following th terrorist attacks, we have heard that not all Member States have been sharing all their information with the partner states in the union. Well this is a problem if some Member States keep their intelligence to themselves, so I think we need to take an initial step there."

SOUNDBITE (English), Timothy KIRKHOPE (ECR, UK), "The responsibility of Member States in the the processing arrangement for those that migrate to the EU - I am a little concerned about the lack of speed, and the conditions under which some people are being held, whilst these matters are progressing . We've talked about burden or responsibility sharing here, over many, many months, and I have to say to you that whether ts Dublin or whether it is some other arrangement, which has been proposed, we have very variable conditions, and very variable circumstances. So I do hope that as part of the initiatives within the Presidency statement, there will be a further look at this issue."

SOUNDBITE (English), Sophia IN&apos;T VELD (ALDE, NL), "I would like to know, because I think I heard you speak about an intra-EU PNR or was it the Chair who mentioned that, now that's a new element. I have also yesterday heard one of the national ministers talk about collecting, let's say, the equivalent of PNR data from train traffic. I mean, we seem to be moving the goal post every day and I think we have a right to know what we are actually talking about." 