Urban violence is a specific type of delinquency and represents a considerable challenge to public authorities.

Within the framework of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the French Ministry of Justice is organising a conference on the topic of 'The European Private Company', in partnership with MEDEF (French Employers' Association), CCIP (Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry), CGPME (French General Confederation of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises) and the economic interest group "Lawyers for Europe".

How should data protection mechanisms be adjusted in light of the recent IT tools developed to meet current security requirements?

The seminar, held in Paris from 7 to 9 October by the French Minister of the Interior, Overseas France and Territorial Communities, will bring together heads and officers of the special intervention units from the 27 Member States (from France: RAID and GIGN).

European police forces will meet to discuss the question of international trafficking in toxic waste.

The European Week of Regions and Cities, organised in Brussels by the Committee of the Regions, with 210 partner regions and cities in Europe, is expected to attract 5 000 participants.

Mrs. Rachida Dati, Minister of Justice, is organising a conference on "The exchange of authentic instruments within the European Judicial Area" in partnership with the Conseil supérieur du Notariat (High Council for the Notarial Profession).

This conference is organised by the 'Maison européenne des pouvoirs locaux français' (an umbrella group of French local authority associations).

A conference on 2 October will bring together the webmasters of the main European legal sites together with members of the judiciary, linguists and IT specialists who are working to develop eJustice within the EU. The conference will focus on the problems that have to be solved if the new information technologies are to be used in cross-border proceedings.

Within the framework of combating terrorism in the EU, the French Presidency is to hold the last two seminars of a series of conferences on radicalisation and recruitment in prisons on 30 September and 1 October 2008.

The French Ministry of the Interior, Overseas France and Territorial Communities (the Ministry of State for Overseas France) is organising an exhibition on "Overseas Europe: Wealth and Diversity". The exhibition is being held in Brussels from September to December 2008 in the main European institutions: the Commission, the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions.

This conference will bring together more than 1,200 representatives from the worlds of research, industry and European institutions.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council of 25 September 2008 will focus on the common immigration and asylum policy. It will be chaired by Brice Hortefeux, the French Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Mutually-Supportive Development.

The Council has reached an agreement on the European pact on immigration and asylum. The Pact will now be submitted for adoption to the European Council of October 2008.
The Council recognised the support of all the delegations for the draft Directive on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly qualified employment (the so-called “Blue Card” Directive). The Council has charged the Coreper with finalising the text of the Directive.

Following the meeting held in Paris in April 2008, the French Presidency is organising a seminar on the fight against drug trafficking in the western Mediterranean in Toulon from 24-26 September 2008.

On 22 September, the MEPS are meeting in Brussels for the second plenary session of September.

On 18 September 2008, on the occasion of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the French Bar Association and the Delegation of the French Bar Association is organising a conference in Brussels on citizens' access to law and justice in Europe.

The General Assembly of "Missing Children Europe" will be held in Paris on 18-20 September 2008.

The association "Les rencontres" traditionally organizes a meeting in the country which holds the Presidency of the European Union.

On the eve of France's ratification of The Hague Convention of January 2000, the French Presidency is holding a conference on the need to consider the cross-border protection of vulnerable adults.

Following on from several working groups held over 2008, the French Presidency is to hold a meeting on 17 September concerning the overhaul and improvement of regulations protecting classified information in the European Union.

The Ministry of Justice is organising a conference on : "the international protection of vulnerable adults"

This seminar, jointly organised by the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), is intended to present the action taken by the European Union, particularly in the framework of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), to reform the security sector and strengthen cooperation between ESDP operations and specialised civil society organisations.

On 11 September, Michèle Alliot-Marie, French Minister of the Interior, Overseas France and Territorial Collectivities, with Dominique Bussereau, French Minister of State for Transport, will open a European seminar on the coordination of road safety police forces.

The French Mayors Association (AMGVF) will hold the 8th Cities Conference on Thursday 11 September 2008 at Paris City Hall (Hôtel de Ville). Entitled "From Lisbon to Göteborg, cities make Europe strong!", this event will bring together some 800 European elected officials to debate the role of European cities in the construction of Community policy.

The national parliaments of the 27 EU Member States and the European Parliament are meeting in Brussels on 10 and 11 September 2008 for a joint parliamentary meeting on the theme of "Europe: migration and integration". The French ministers Brice Hortefeux and Jean-Pierre Jouyet will address the meeting on behalf of the Council of the European Union.

Entitled "Building a Europe of Asylum" in reference to section IV of the draft European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, the Paris conference of 8 and 9 September 2008 laid the groundwork for the second phase of the Common European Asylum System in line with the programme drawn up in The Hague in 2004 and in the context of the work on the draft European Pact on Immigration and Asylum presented by the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Traditionally, at the beginning of each six-month Presidency, the ministers come to debate with the MEPs in specialised committee sessions to present their programme and priorities.

Practical co-operation in matters of asylum, the external dimension of the politics of asylum, and the future European Asylum System will be discussed.