With the Ministers of Interior in Wiesbaden
Today I have travelled to Wiesbaden to attend the ‘Innenministerkonferenz’, when all the Interior Ministers from all 16 German Länder meet, twice a year, to discuss common issues. This has been the tradition since 1954 and even the federal Minister of Interior, Hans Pieter Friedrich, attended (though he has no voting rights). I was invited as a guest and we discussed the asylum package, the Data Retention Directive and the fight against terrorism amongst other things. They also told us more about the extremist network that was unveiled just recently and that is believed to be behind at least 10 murders. Since the German Länder have a lot political power in Germany, including when it comes to European affairs, this was an important opportunity to speak to all the Ministers at the same time.
This morning, I also had a meeting with Owe Hahn, who is the Minster of Justice in Hesse.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, the heads of state and government are getting ready for the summit, which begins tonight with a dinner and will continue tomorrow. Top on the agenda is trying to find a way out of the crisis – treaty changes will be discussed. I’ve said it before and will say it again, it is important that we resolve the crisis with all 27 EU countries. I do not want to see Europe divided in two. It looks like there will be treaty changes of some sort or at least a decision on this matter is expected. It is not a quick fix and it is important that we don’t get stuck in endless ratification procedures in the Member States. We need to focus on the important measure to stimulate growth and make the necessary reforms.
Email This Post
RSS comments feed on this entry