Aard van der Steur

van der Steur discussed and endorsed Operation Triton with other Ministers of Inerior at the JHA Council meeting in October 2015 (See Council of EU, Operation Triton).

van der Steur leading the Ministry of Justice and Security was in charge of migration policies in the Netherlands since the Minister in charge of the Immigration and Asylum was the State Secretary but none had a specific portfolio, so the role was assumed by the suspect during his term. (See NL Report, Ministry of Justice and Security).

van der Steur as a Interior Minister/ Minister of Justice and Security was part of the Justice and Home Affairs (“JHA”) Council which adopted EU policies in domains including asylum and immigration policy, external border management, judicial cooperation in both civil and criminal matters, and police cooperation. (See Council of EU, The Justice and Home Affairs Council Configuration)

Prior to the Dutch Council Presidency van der Steur's government indicated that it would highlight Common Security and Defense Policy as a key element in migration policy and that it was helping to plan a “new Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy” which it anticipated to present at the European Council in June 2016. (See NL Report, Presidency of the Council of the EU (January–June 2016)).

During the Presidency the Netherlands oversaw the decision to extend the mandate of Sophia to include capacity building and training of Libyan coastguards (See Council of the EU, The Dutch Presidency).

In its Presidency program, the Netherlands put a special emphasis on the “huge influx of people… putting the European Union to the test.” It further prioritized the control of the EU’s external borders. (See Council of EU, The Dutch Presidency). van der Steur can be reasonably assumed to being aware of the situation in Libya since in May 2016, during Dutch Presidency,  Foreign Minister Bert Koenders paid a visit to Tripoli where he met with Libyan Prime Minister al-Sarraj and the Libyan coastguard. The Dutch position in the Council of the EU demonstrated the Netherlands’ full support and advocacy for training the Libyan coastguards (See Council of the EU, Dutch Presidency).

van der Steur as a Interior Minister/ Minister of Justice and Security was part of the Justice and Home Affairs (“JHA”) Council which adopted EU policies in domains including asylum and immigration policy, external border management, judicial cooperation in both civil and criminal matters, and police cooperation. (See Council of EU, The Justice and Home Affairs Council Configuration)

van der Steur as a Interior Minister/ Minister of Justice and Security was part of the Justice and Home Affairs (“JHA”) Council which adopted EU policies in domains including asylum and immigration policy, external border management, judicial cooperation in both civil and criminal matters, and police cooperation. (See Council of EU, The Justice and Home Affairs Council Configuration)