Commissioner Reynders attends the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting in Washington

Today, Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice, will attend the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial meeting in Washington, D.C. The Ministerial meeting takes place twice a year and this year it is hosted by William Barr, the U.S. Attorney General, and Chad Wolf, acting Secretary of Homeland Security.  It aims to address common security threats and to discuss transatlantic cooperation in the area of Justice and Home Affairs. Commissioner Reynders said: “The common security threats facing the European Union and the United States are best tackled by working together. That is why we should continue to improve the exchange of best practices and enhance judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Today’s Ministerial meeting reaffirms our joint commitment to find common solutions wherever relevant.” On this occasion, Ministers will discuss amongst others, the fight against terrorism with particular emphasis on the sharing of information, gathered in zones of combat, for investigation and prosecution purposes. Participants will also address the importance of enhancing judicial cooperation in cyberspace, particularly in light of the recent start of negotiations on an EU-U.S. Agreement on improving cross-border access to electronic evidence. In addition, the European Union and the United States will take stock of the progress on the admission of the remaining EU countries to the so-called “U.S. Visa Waiver Programme”. The next EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial meeting will take place in May 2020. A joint statement with the conclusions of the meeting will be published here in the course of the day.