Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar and Deputy Minister Krzysztof Śmiszek will represent Poland on Friday 26 January 2024 at the informal meeting of the European Union Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA).

The JHA is attended by ministers of EU Member States. Adam Bodnar, who has been in the Belgian capital since Wednesday, stressed that his predecessor, Zbigniew Ziobro, did not attend these meetings.

“In view of the fact that for eight years Poland was represented only at the level of deputy ministers, it is important to me that in these discussions on the future of European Union law in justice we discuss together with ministers from other member states, but also to present the Polish legislative perspective”, said Minister Bodnar.

The main topic on the agenda in Brussels will include migration issues, as well as the use of artificial intelligence by criminal organisations. Participants at the meeting will also discuss how to respond to drug-related organised crime.

Justice ministers will also discuss the decriminalisation of sex work and hold a debate on pre-trial detention.

On Thursday 25 January, Adam Bodnar met with the Vice-President of the European Commission Vera Jourova and the EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders. He also held bilateral meetings with Franc Weerwind, Minister of Legal Protection of the Netherlands, and Alma Zadić, Minister of Justice of Austria.

“Since the beginning of our membership of the European Union, we have made a valuable contribution to the development of the EU in justice and we want to return to that”, stressed  the head of the justice ministry.

In Brussels, Minister Bodnar will also meet with the chairman of the European Parliament’s (EP) Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE), Juan Fernando Lopez Aguillar, the German Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann, and the chairman of the EP Committee on Legal Affairs, Adrian Vazquez Lazara.

Adrian Andrzejewski