In the LIBE Committee the minister presented the programme of the Czech Presidency in the field of home affairs to the MEPs and then introduced them to the main priorities. Among the priorities are modern technology and security, the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II), international protection of children and a rational anti-drug policy. Ivan Langer informed the MEPs about the conclusions of the informal meeting of ministers for justice and home affairs last week in Prague regarding the Schengen Information System.

‘At the informal meeting of ministers we treated the current state of affairs as regards the development of SIS II with the ministers of all the other EU and Schengen Member States and agreed that the project is in a severe crisis that we need to solve immediately. We also stated that the Czech Presidency has made it a priority to find a way out of the crisis and we will do our utmost to be able to hand over this project to the Swedish Presidency as a sound and healthy one’, said Interior Minister Ivan Langer. He also agreed with MEPs that the Presidency will continue its cooperation with the European Parliament on the first asylum package, a list of legislative proposals to start the second phase of the construction of the European Asylum System. Cooperation between the Presidency and the European Parliament will also be decisive for setting up the visa codex.

At the ITRE Committee the Minister of the Interior presented the priorities of the Czech Presidency for the first six months of 2009 in the area of the EU policy on the information society and eGovernment. The Czech Presidency is, for instance, ready to lead a debate on how to explain the advantages of high-speed Internet at European level. In times of economic crisis it will be necessary, in particular, to point out the economic advantages and savings that high-speed Internet offers to its users. One indisputable example is Internet telephony. According to a recent survey carried out by the European Commission, households in the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania use the Internet to make phone calls more than any other country in Europe. During our Presidency we will try to find the best way of turning European society into an information society and to use ICT to ensure a positive outlook for the future.

Contact:
Markéta Matlochová, Spokesperson for Czech Presidenty of the EU, Ministry of the Interior                        
tel.: +420 974 832 971, GSM: +420 603 191 750, e-mail: matlochova@mvcr.cz