The informal Meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers will be held in Stockholm on 15–17 July. At the meeting, some 62 home affairs, justice and migration ministers and over 300 delegates will meet to discuss the Stockholm Programme, one of the main priorities of the Swedish Presidency. Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask and Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billström will host the meeting.

The Stockholm Programme will determine the focus of EU work in the area of justice and home affairs for the next five years. It is to cover issues such as combating crime, civil and criminal law, and asylum and migration issues.

“The Stockholm Programme must be centred on the individual,” says Ms Ask. “How we can strengthen protection for the individual, increase security by becoming better at combating crime and make it easier for people to move, work and shop across national borders.”

“It is important to produce a balanced programme that focuses on the ongoing work with the common asylum system and that gives serious consideration to the need for legal migration channels,” says Mr Billström.

The meeting will be held at Stockholm International Fairs, where a media centre will be set up. The delegates will arrive in Stockholm for a reception on the evening of 15 July, and the meeting will be held on 16–17 July.

Preliminary programme, media activities

16 July

08.40  Doorstep with Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask 
09.00 – 09.30 Delegations arrive (photo opportunity)
10.00  Doorstep with Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billström
12.30  Presidency press conference (home affairs)
13.50  Family photo
17.30  Presidency press conference  (migration issues)

17 July

08.40 – 09.10 Delegations arrive (photo opportunity)
09.30  Family photo
13.30  Presidency press conference (justice affairs)