On 11 March, the ALDE Party and Renew Europe group hosted the first-ever Justice Pre-Council meeting, bringing together liberal Justice Ministers and the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders. The meeting was chaired by Renew Europe MEPs Karen Melchior (Radikale Venstre, Denmark) and Sophie in’t Veld (D66, the Netherlands).

The Ministers discussed and shared views on the items on the Council agenda, with the main focus being on the fight for fundamental rights in the EU, the impact of digitalisation and the Rule of Law Mechanism, a new mechanism that aims to protect the EU’s budget and values. Moreover, they also discussed the need to set up as soon as possible the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) as well as the acceleration of the digitalisation in the justice system in the context of COVID-19 recovery.

Commissioner Reynders underlined that the European Commission is currently working on its second Rule of Law report, which includes proposals to introduce new tools and reforms for monitoring rule of law in the EU.

List of Participants:

Vincent Van Quickenborne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice (Open VLD, Belgium)        
Maris Lauri, Minister of Justice (Reform Party, Estonia)
Evelina Dobrovolska, Minister of Justice (Laisvės partija, Lithuania)
Stelian Ion, Minister of Justice (USR, Romania)
Malin Brännkärr, State Secretary (SFP, Finland)
Karen Melchior, MEP and Renew Europe coordinator of JURI committee (Radikale Venstre, Denmark)
Sophie In’t Veld, MEP and Renew Europe coordinator of LIBE committee (D66, the Netherlands)
Adrián Vázquez Lázara, MEP and Chair of JURI committee (Ciudadanos, Spain)
Anna Donáth, MEP (Momentum, Hungary)
Ramona Strugariu, MEP (USR, Romania)

Today, #ALDEParty and @RenewEurope organised their 1st Justice Ministerial meeting ahead of the JHA Council later today with the presence of 🇪🇺 Commissioner @dreynders.@VincentVQ @EveDobrovolska @Stelian_Ion_USR @MarisLauri @MalinBs @SophieintVeld @karmel80 pic.twitter.com/wDxAKwKyDS

— ALDE Party (@ALDEParty) March 11, 2021