The debates held by the national parliaments today show that there will be no compromise with security, said Chair of the Committee on Internal Security and Public Order Tsvetan Tsvetanov at the closing of the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol.

Tsvetan Tsvetanov thanked all 207 participants in the event for the constructive dialogue and consensus achieved on the rules of procedure of the Joint Group. I can guarantee for the Bulgarian delegation that being actively involved in the Presidency Trio, we will fulfil our commitments on the rules of procedure, he added.

Chair of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee at the European Parliament Claude Moraes encouraged the parliamentarians of Bulgaria, Austria and Romania to start working as part of the Presidency Trio on the rules of procedure of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol. He emphasised that the Presidency Trio should set up a working group and propose recommendations to the rules of procedure for 2019; secondly, it should discuss the significance of language diversity and the needs of funding for Europol, as well as develop guidelines for Europol’s procedural issues. Claude Moraes thanked the parliamentarians for achieving agreement on the rules of procedure of the group and personally Europol CEO Rob Wainwright for his good work as head of the agency.

Countering illegal online content and streamlining cybersecurity, as well as Europol’s contribution to the fight against terrorism and prevention of organised crime, were discussed at the second meeting of the group in Sofia.