The justice and home affairs ministers of the 27 EU member states set the course for European justice and home affairs policy. They may decide on EU legislative acts, on basic policy and on their position regarding proposals by the European Commission. As the EU’s executive body, the European Commission takes part in the meetings of the JHA Council.

The Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) is responsible for preparing the work of the Council of the European Union. It is made up of the ambassadors of the EU member states. There are a large number of Council working parties and committees below the level of Coreper. Their job is to work out the details of all European justice and home affairs policy issues.

Regular schedule of meetings

The justice and home affairs ministers of the 27 EU member states meet every three months on average, usually in Brussels or Luxembourg. The JHA Council meets on two successive days, with the justice ministers meeting separately from the home affairs ministers. Each meeting is chaired by the responsible minister whose country holds the current six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU.

An informal meeting of the justice and home affairs ministers is usually held at the start of a new Presidency. At these informal meetings, the ministers concentrate more on sharing their views of priority issues. The new Presidency invites the ministers to its capital city and presents its priorities for its six-month term.

Responsibility for justice and home affairs issues

The JHA Council addresses almost the entire range of justice and home affairs issues. A few of these issues, such as civil protection and disaster management (General Affairs Council) and IT security (Telecommunications Council) are dealt with in other Council configurations.

The Federal Minister of the Interior represents Germany on matters of European home affairs policy. The priorities here are internal security, migration and asylum. Current issues are the Common European Asylum System and European data protection.

When the JHA Council acts as a law-making body in the area of justice and home affairs policy, as a rule its decisions require a qualified majority for adoption. Under the ordinary legislative procedure, which applies in most cases, the European Parliament has co-decision powers. When the JHA Council discusses new legislative acts, its meetings are generally open to the public.