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 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.
From 2 December 2024, hotels, holiday lets and car-hire firms in Spain must collect more personal details from travellers and pass them to the authorities. Here is what is really required, and what is just rumour.
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.
Meeting in Budva in October 2024, EU and Western Balkan ministers reaffirmed close cooperation on justice and home affairs, from fighting trafficking to aligning visa policies and preparing for the EES and ETIAS.
Meeting in Luxembourg on 13 June 2024, EU home affairs ministers moved the new migration and asylum pact from the negotiating table toward real-world delivery, while keeping an eye on the looming launch of the EES and ETIAS border systems.
Over two days in Brussels, EU justice and home affairs ministers tackled drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and the future of Europe's border databases, with the EES and ETIAS rollout firmly in view.