EUobserver takes a deep dive into the workings and new chairs of every single European Parliament committee for the new 2024-2029 session, in a series of articles first published in our print magazine of October 2024
A Spanish MEP is once again chairing the European Parliament's powerful civil liberties committee (LIBE).
But whereas its predecessor hailed from the Spanish Socialists & Democrats camp, its new chair is firmly rooted in the leading centre-right European People's Party.
Before taking the LIBE helm, Javier Zarzalejos presided over the Spanish think-tank FAES, a non-profit liberal-conservative organisation.
Now as LIBE chair, the 64-year-old is overseeing the issues that swung the European Parliament's political make-up further to the right.
Asylum and migration are probably the most politically toxic issues under the committee's remit. The Schengen passport-free area, a bigger and more powerful EU police agency, criminal abuse of Artificial Intelligence, and data retention, will also figure on its agenda.
The committee's ability to cross-examine senior government officials and launch inquiries into politically sensitive topics has helped propel its status.
The ever-present debate over asylum and migration will remain a key point for the committee, following stunning far-right election results in Austria, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
It has also turned Fabrice Leggeri, the disgraced former executive director of the EU's border agency, Frontex, into a French far-right MEP. Leggeri is now a member of LIBE — the very same committee that relentlessly grilled him during his time heading up Frontex.
Earlier this year, the EU finally managed to secure a legislative deal on reforming internal asylum and migration rules. For Zarzalejos and his committee, its two-year implementation deadline and wider scrutiny will be crucial.
"A clear priority will be ensuring that our migration and asylum in Europe works as it should," he said of the committee.
The new rules promise to bridge the ever-elusive balancing act between responsibility and solidarity among member states.
Alongside the rule of law, Zarzalejos also labels asylum and migration as among the most likely contentious issues his committee will be tackling over the next few years.
Tricky questions on how to increase the return rates of failed asylum seekers will also be important. "Finding workable solutions in this field, which are fully in line with fundamental rights, will be a challenge for the committee," he said.
Closely intertwined is the safeguarding of the Schengen area, a passport-free zone composed of 26 European countries.
"It is no secret that the Schengen space has faced significant threats in the past years due to migratory pressure, or criminal and terrorist attacks in Europe," he said.
"We have recently agreed a revision to the Schengen rulebook (the Schengen Borders Code) and we must focus on its effective implementation," he added.
But he also says legal migration is needed to support Europe's economy given the demographics of an increasingly ageing population — a position staunchly rejected by Leggeri and his political camp.
Migration and asylum aside, LIBE will also be delving into organised crime, an enhanced EU security framework, and a bigger EU police agency, Europol. Criminal use of AI and end-to-end encrypted communication also continues to pose a problem for law enforcement.
"There is a need to find appropriate solutions which counterbalance the security concerns and needs of law enforcement on the one hand, with the fundamental rights and privacy concerns on the other," said Zarzalejos.
As for what he aspires to become the committee’s single biggest achievement over the next five years? Zarzalejos remained elusive.
"I do hope for a Union that is able to deliver on the issues that are relevant for citizens," he said.
The LIBE coordinators are: Lena Düpont (EPP, Germany), Birgit Sippel (S&D, Germany), Fabrice Leggeri (PfE, France), Assita Kanko (ECR, Belgium), Fabienne Keller (Renew, France), Tineke Strik (Greens, the Netherlands) and Saskia Bricmont (Greens, Belgium), Estrella Galán Pérez (Left, Spain), and Slovak Sovereign Milan Uhrik (ESN, Slovakia).
Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.
Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.