Behind the EU's border and security systems sits a Council body that coordinates how member states exchange information. Here is what the Working Party on JHA Information Exchange does and why it matters.
At the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 8 December 2025, EU ministers settled positions on speeding up returns, agreed a 2026 solidarity pool and approved a roadmap to connect the bloc's border IT systems. Here are the main outcomes.
At the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 14 October 2025, EU interior ministers discussed faster returns, the future of Frontex and the rollout of the bloc's border IT systems, just days after the Entry/Exit System went live. Here are the main outcomes.
EU home affairs ministers have backed a revised timeline that brings the Entry/Exit System (EES) into operation first, in October 2025, with ETIAS expected to follow in the last quarter of 2026. The phased approach gives borders and travellers time to adjust.
EU ministers have cleared the way for the Entry/Exit System to launch in autumn 2025. Here is what the new digital border will change for non-EU visitors, and the concerns it still raises.
EU home affairs ministers backed a phased launch of the Entry/Exit System and endorsed a revised roadmap that schedules ETIAS for late 2026. Here is what the March 2025 Justice and Home Affairs Council decided.
The European Union has long promised that its "entry-exit system" (EES) is about to start, with the ETIAS travel permit due to follow. After a string of conflicting announcements from Brussels, here is a plain-English guide to what is planned and when.
Over a decade the EU built a layered response to terrorism, combining new laws, better information sharing and stronger border databases. Here is how that effort developed from 2013 to today.
At their December 2024 meeting in Brussels, EU home affairs ministers agreed to lift land border checks with Bulgaria and Romania and took stock of the EES, ETIAS and wider security priorities.
At their annual forum in Budva, EU and Western Balkans ministers reaffirmed close cooperation on organised crime, migration and digital justice. Visa alignment, EES and ETIAS were high on the agenda.