site.btaJustice Minister Tsacheva Unveils Priorities of Bulgaria's EU Council Presidency to Partners in Brussels

Justice Minister Tsacheva Unveils Priorities of Bulgaria's EU Council Presidency to Partners in Brussels

Brussels, June 20 (BTA) - Justice Minister Tsetska Tsacheva, who is on a two-day working visit to Brussels, discussed the priorities of Bulgaria's Presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2018.

Tsacheva and EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, who is responsible for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, identified a need for unity and support in implementing policies for the protection of the EU's borders, the prevention of illegal migration, cyber security and the collection of e-evidence by the law enforcement and judicial authorities. They concurred on the need for speedy work during the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council on legislation on EU border protection, the interaction among the EU agencies in the area of security and encryption, the regulation on the exchange of data regarding the criminal records of third country nationals, and the collection of e-evidence.

Tsacheva met with Christine Roger, Director General responsible for Justice and Home Affairs at the General Secretariat of the EU Council; Pavel Svoboda, Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI); and Paraskevi Michou, Deputy Secretary-General of the European Commission.

The Justice Minister said her team was working hard to prepare the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council. In the Justice area, a calendar of meetings of the working groups of the EU Council has been drawn up with the General Secretariat. Nearly 100 meetings on 16 negotiation topics in civil, criminal and company law have been scheduled. Bulgaria has set up teams for the negotiations consisting of experts of the Justice Ministry, the judiciary and academia.

The hosts praised Bulgaria for setting a priority in the Justice area on the European Public Prosecutor's Office, cybercrime legislation, and the regulation on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, and on international child abduction.

At her meetings at the European Parliament, Tsacheva stressed the need for close cooperation in the negotiating process between the European Commission, the EU Council and the European Parliament on a number of files concerning money laundering, the mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders, the rules for contracts for the supply of digital content, the exchange of information on criminal records, and copyright protection, which will form the core of EU law-making until the end of 2018.