Spanish and French Ministers for Home Affairs ratify commitment to police cooperation between both countries

This is the first bilateral meeting that Minister Grande-Marlaska has held with his French counterpart since the latter took office on 6 July. It is also the first visit to Spain by Minister Darmanin as a member of the French Government.

At the meeting, Minister Grande-Marlaska was accompanied by the State Secretary for Security, Rafael Pérez Ruiz, and the Director-General of International Relations and Immigration, Elena Garzón Otamendi. For his part, Gérald Darmanin was accompanied by the French Ambassador to Spain, Jean-Michel Casa, with other members of the diplomatic delegation.

Minister Grande-Marlaska conveyed to his French counterpart Spain's commitment to cooperation between the two countries and the importance for Spain to maintain and step up active collaboration with France on those home affairs where there are shared interests.

Among other issues, the two ministers observed the fluid relationship between the two departments for many years in the fight against terrorism, which facilitates close and effective police cooperation between the two countries and a speedy and effective exchange of information on Jihadi terrorism and radicalisation processes that fuel this phenomenon, as well as on clarifying a range of attacks perpetrated by the terrorist group ETA.

COVID-19

The Spanish and French Ministers for Home Affairs also took the opportunity of this first meeting to exchange their respective perspectives on the evolution of the COVID-19 health crisis throughout the European Union.

On this matter, Minister Grande-Marlaska explained to his French counterpart that Spain advocates, in relation to restrictions on external border crossings, a gradual focus based on epidemiological and health criteria, coordinated by the EU authorities and harmonised throughout the Schengen area.

The two ministers also observed that, as regards internal borders, Spain and France closely collaborate on managing the introduction and lifting controls bilaterally or upon indications from the EU authorities.

Lastly, Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Gérald Darmanin reviewed European migratory policy and addressed the external dimension of the phenomenon. The Spanish minister explained to his French counterpart that Spain advocates cooperation with the countries of origin and transit as the best system for preventing migratory flows.

The most recent in situ bilateral meeting between the Spanish and French Ministers for Home Affairs was held in the French town of Hendaya on 4 July 2019 to establish mechanisms for cooperation between the two departments necessary to guarantee the security of the G7 Summit held last August in Biarritz. At that time, the French Minister for Home Affairs was Christophe Castaner.

Non official translation