Meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs&nbsp;in the EP in Brussels.&nbsp;Presentation of the priorities of the Maltese Presidency by Carmelo ABELA, Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security and Owen BONNICI, Maltese Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government.

Brussels

meeting

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Maltese presidency of the EU (T)

ABELA, Carmelo (MT)

BONNICI, Owen (MT)

Priorities of the Maltese Presidency: extracts from the presentation by Carmelo ABELA, Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security and Owen BONNICI, Maltese Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government

SOUNDBITE (Maltese), Carmelo ABELA, Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, Europe needs fresh momentum. Recent developments around the EU have shown clearly the need for the EU to be closer to its population and to communicate more effectively the measures, the important measures which is taking to provide better opportunities to its citizens and to give them the opportunity to realise their aspirations.

SOUNDBITE (English), Carmelo ABELA, Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, Migration will therefore be of the top priorities of the Maltese Presidency. We will try to make as much progress as possible on the various aspects of the migration phenomenon also by taking a comprehensive approach. The seven proposals that are currently on the table and which will lead to the reform of the Common European Asylum System are among the top priorities of our Presidency.

SOUNDBITE (English), Carmelo ABELA, Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security , We need to continue working together on migration and I think that to achieve a compromise is going to be difficult, it is not an easy task, definitely not. But we need to continue with our political dialogue and the basis of this dialogue is responsibility and solidarity, and that we are in this together. Indirectly or directly, all Member States are affected by the phenomenon of migration, and that it is why we need to continue working together.

SOUNDBITE (English), Carmelo ABELA, Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security , We have to keep in mind that we are discussing not numbers but persons, individuals. Migration is an issue that has a human face, which we need to continue to remember all the time when it comes to the management and the solutions that we need to have in the EU.

SOUNDBITE (English), Owen BONNICI, Maltese Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government, Our main priority is very straight-forward and simple, that is to achieve as much progress as possible. This means that we will have another busy period ahead of us. During our Presidency we will need to keep the citizen at the centre of the agenda.

SOUNDBITE (English), Owen BONNICI, Maltese Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government, We are also pleased that an agreement was reached on visa liberalisation for Georgia under the previous Presidency. Malta will focus on reaching an agreement on visa liberalisation for Ukraine in close collaboration with the European Parliament, whilst monitoring developments by Kosovo, and Turkey and their path towards to the fulfilment of their visa liberalisation action plans.

SOUNDBITE (English), Owen BONNICI, Maltese Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government, Terrorism is something that of course is right at the heart of the concerns of the citizens of Europe and we are committed to implement the measures that have already been agreed. We are not recreating or squaring the circle. We are going to implement measures which have already been agreed upon, basically the roadmap on improving information on exchange and interoperability, which has been adopted last year, and the PNR Directive. We are also going to work on the prevention and combating radicalisation leading to violence in a broad context.