Between December 6th and 7th, 2018, Tudorel Toader, Minister of Justice, participated in Brussels at the last meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council under the Austrian Presidency.
On December 7th, 2018, at the end of the Justice Session, the Romanian official took over the presidency of this formation, which will be exercised by Romania starting January 1st, 2019.
The Romanian Minister of Justice was accompanied at the meeting by Ambassador Luminiţa Odobescu, Permanent Representative of Romania to the European Union, as well as by a part of the technical team within the Ministry of Justice and the Permanent Representation of Romania.
At this meeting, the Ministers of Justice adopted the general approach on the proposal for a directive on contracts for the sale of goods, the proposal to recast the Brussels IIa Regulation and the proposal for a Regulation on European Production and Preservation Orders for electronic in criminal matters.
The agenda also included information about the state of play of the establishment of the European Public Prosecution, the preparation by the European Commission of the negotiating mandates for the Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, and an agreement between the EU and USA on electronic evidence in criminal matters.
At the same time, the Romanian official participated in the working lunch of the ministers of justice from the member states where the subject of anti-semitism was tackled by means of criminal law.
In the margins of the meeting, the Romanian Minister had brief meetings with Ms. Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, as well as with his counterparts in Austria, Luxembourg and Croatia.
Being the last JHA Council in the mandate of the Austrian Presidency, the upcoming Romanian Presidency of the EU Council presented its priorities in the field of justice for the first semester of 2019, including advancing negotiations on the proposal for a Regulation on European Production and Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal matters and obtaining a general approach on the proposal of the Directive from the same legislative package, the finalization of the Brussels IIa Regulation, the appointment of the European Chief Prosecutor, the strengthening of mutual recognition in criminal matters. At the same time, the Romanian Minister presented the list of events that will be organized during Romania’s Presidency of the EU Council. The first meeting of the JHA Council under the Presidency of Romania at the Council of the European Union will take place in Brussels, on March 7th and 8th, 2019.