The Union’s aims are as follows:

• Organise the free movement of people: the Schengen Area
  
  

The free movement of people is a right enshrined in the Treaty of Rome and made operational by the signing of the Schengen agreements in 1985. Since then, several steps forward have been taken improving this fundamental freedom which received full legal recognition with the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1999.

The establishment of this system enabled, on the one hand, the abolition of internal borders in the Schengen Area and, on the other hand, the creation of a single external border. 

This area today includes 25 member countries (all EU countries except the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus plus three associate countries, namely Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). On February 28th 2008, Liechtenstein also signed an agreement to integrate into this free movement area but the ratification procedure has not yet taken place.

At the heart of the Schengen system is an information system (SIS) which enables data exchange on people and objects crossing external borders.

• Create a common policy on matters related to asylum and immigration of third-country citizens
  
  

This policy concerns both asylum seekers and immigrants, whether legal or illegal. It attempts to reconcile the imperatives of security and control of persons while respecting human rights as laid out in The Hague Programme of November 4th and 5th 2004.

The emergence of a European policy for asylum and immigration goes back to the European Council in Tampere on October 15th and 16th 1999 which set out the EU’s approach to migration policy for the first time.

• Fight against illegal immigration
  
  

The fight against illegal immigration comes under an action plan which is mainly based on three components:

- Development of a communal policy in matters of visas, repatriation and readmissions;

- Enabling exchange of information between countries via the SIS which allows immediate identification of persons travelling in the member country area;

- Enhancing checks at EU external borders.

Several tools have been put in place to support the last two components. The same applies to development of a communal policy on repatriation and readmission. To that end, the December 16th 2008 directive was developed by the European Parliament and the Council of the Union, regarding common standards and procedures applicable in member countries to the return of illegal immigrants from third countries.  The demand for better management of migration flows also led to the establishment of a European Pact on Immigration and Asylum that was adopted by the European Council of October 15 and 16 2008 under the aegis of the French Presidency.

• Manage requests for asylum
  
  

Before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, EU activity was limited to guaranteeing minimum standards to protect asylum seekers. However, since December 1st 2009, the Union’s competency in the matter has increased significantly and a new permanent European asylum regime has been established. Political asylum has thus been raised to the rank of a communal policy, leading to a harmonisation of asylum granting and withdrawal procedures at Member State level.

Furthermore, the rights of asylum seekers have been increased by recognition of the legally binding nature of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights. The right of asylum is governed in this charter by article 78 which mentions the Geneva Convention of July 28 1951 and the protocol of January 31 1967 regarding refugee status.

Recognising the external element of the asylum policy will mean stronger cooperation with third countries. This in turn means better management of flows of asylum seekers and more efficient targeting of all forms of protection, be it subsidiary or temporary.

• Normalise the migration flow of third-country citizens illegally present on EU territory.
  

To this end, two directives have been adopted. One of them defines the rights attached to long-term resident status and the other aims to reconcile the conditions and advantages connected with family reunification. Before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the management of legal migration flows was essentially the prerogative of Member States. However, since December 1st 2009 the level of harmonisation regarding legal immigration has been strengthened because of the adoption of ordinary legislative procedure as a decision-making method. The Lisbon Treaty provides a legal basis (art. 79 § 4 TFUE) which encourages Member State action to promote integration of third country citizens legally residing on EU territory.

• Ensure judicial cooperation in civil matters
  
  

Judicial cooperation in civil matters aims to regulate cross-border disputes regarding divorce, child custody, company bankruptcy etc. Community rules outline the competent jurisdiction as well as the applicable law and thus expedite the case. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty enlarged the focus of judicial cooperation in civil matters. On the one hand, it promoted:

- Effective access to the justice system

- Simplification of civil procedures which promotes compatibility between laws from different Member States

- Development of alternative methods to resolve disputes

- Support for the training of judges and legal personnel

On the other hand, the Lisbon Treaty removed one of the sine qua non conditions for the adoption of interstate judicial cooperation measures, namely the smooth functioning of the internal market.

Lastly, sanctioning the principle of mutual recognition as well as removing restrictions on the competency of the European Union Court of Justice, have really strengthened the areas of involvement.

• Enhance police and judicial cooperation in the fight against crime
  
  

The idea of police cooperation at interstate level emerged in 1975 at the European Council of Rome which led to the creation of TREVI (Terrorism, Radicalism, Extremism, International Violence), a special group set up to fight terrorism on a European scale. Mutual collaboration in the fight against crime was strengthened in the 1980s due to the sensationalism of crime and criminality by the media at this time.

The emergence of a shared commitment to promote the free movement of people was the source of very divergent opinions in Europe. At the same time, the new sense of ‘Europeanness’ prepared the ground for the establishment of police and judicial cooperation between States. In 1985, the signing of the Schengen Agreements between France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg meant that these countries definitively opened up to intraeuropean collaboration in this area.

In 1992, the treaty establishing the European Union legally framed this cooperation with the creation of a Justice and Home Affairs pillar. This gave rise to the establishment of a specialised Council that is organised into three units (asylum and immigration, police and customs cooperation, judicial cooperation) and to the creation of Europol, the first intergovernmental police agency with the aim of fighting fraud, terrorism and drug trafficking in Europe.

In 1999, the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty meant that this cooperation could be strengthened although many points were left unclear. In February 2002, a Council decision set up Eurojust, the European agency in charge of strengthening judicial cooperation between Member States. A few months later, in June 2002, a second framework decision adopted by the European Council established the European arrest warrant which encourages mutual recognition of decisions in criminal matters.

After several progressions and uncertainties, the Lisbon Treaty tried in 2009 to correct all the pre-existing shortcomings and to make police and judicial cooperation more efficient.

The most substantial contributions in this area are related to:

- The revision of the decision-making process which led, in particular, to the adoption of ordinary legislative procedure regarding non-operational elements. This goes along with the strengthening of the role of Parliament, an excellent democratic institution which henceforth has an extremely important part to play in decision making.

- The growing might of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is no longer subjected to the constraints of ex-article 35 of the TEU.

- The extension of the competency of Eurojust through article 85 of the TEU (much less restrictive than ex-article 31 of the TEU) which governs the functioning of the European Union’s unity on judicial cooperation..

• Strengthen cooperation at external borders
  
  

The issue of cooperation at external borders emerged from the Council of Laeken on December 14th and 15th 2001, a few months after the September 11th attacks. The goal became safeguarding the territorial security of each Member State. Debates on the subject led to the creation in 2004 of Frontex, the European agency for the management of operational cooperation at external borders. More specifically, it aimed to study the risks in the area concerned, to give assistance to Member States for the training of their border control guards and, in particular, to coordinate cooperation between Member States of the Union.
Despite a clear trend towards communitisation of immigration policy, the Lisbon Treaty clarified what the Member States’ competencies are. Member States, as a result of the 1997 protocol on member countries’ external relations, maintain the right to conclude agreements with third countries in order to better manage the illegal migration flow at external borders.
Regarding the operational part, in 2005 the European Commission adopted three framework programme proposals for the period 2007-2013 which aim to strengthen the European area of freedom, security and justice:

- the framework programme “Fundamental Rights and Justice” refers to four specific programmes: “Fight against violence (Daphne III) and prevention and information on drugs”, “Fundamental Rights and Citizenship”, “Criminal Justice” and “Civil Justice”;

- the framework programme “Solidarity and management of migration flows” includes four funds related to refugees, external borders, integration of third-country citizens and return of third-country citizens;

- the framework programme “Security and protection of freedom” brings together two specific programmes: “Prevention, preparedness and consequence management of terrorism” and “Preventing and combating crime”.

In 2010, the budget allocated to the freedom, security and justice area is 1.025 billion euros - an increase of about 18.2% on 2009.

The main priority is solidarity and management of migration flows which represents a total of about 349 million euros. 

• From now on, the police can pursue (but not arrest unless the State in question has allowed it) people in breach of the law who are outside of their own borders and in a specified area.  The police must inform the State in question of their actions and ask for their assistance.
  
  
• Of 6,900 arrest warrants issued in the EU in 2005, France issued the most (1,914).
  
  
• Following the terrorist attacks in Madrid, an antiterrorism unit was created within Europol. The European Union decided to nominate someone to be responsible for coordinating the actions of Member States against terrorism..
  
  
• Since January 2003, a European system for automatic identification of fingerprints (EURODAC) has enabled authorities to know the country in which an asylum seeker first applied for asylum.
  
  
• The Schengen Information System (SIS) is an information network consisting of a central office in Strasbourg and national sections in each of the Schengen states. It contains information provided by the police and judicial authorities of each country about wanted persons and stolen items (weapons, cars etc.).
  
  
• The Schengen Information System (SIS II) is currently being developed. SIS II will enable a larger number of authorities to have access to the information system.

The Stockholm Programme, approved on December 11th 2009, adopts 82 measures giving central importance to the citizen. This new five-year plan aims to bridge the gap between security and freedom by giving general direction on managing the area of freedom, security and justice.

Along with intensifying dialogue with civil society to promote a feeling of citizenship on a European scale, the Council of the European Union which created the Stockholm Programme also recommended:

• A strengthening of the fundamental rights through EU accession to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ;
  
  

• A greater degree of protection for the most vulnerable people;
  
  

• Better access to justice for any person residing on the territory of a Member State (in this particular case, family rights have benefitted most –  henceforth questions regarding heritage, marriage contracts, donations, wills etc. may be subjected to legal evaluation on a European scale.);
  
  

• tough opposition to the most worrying forms of organised crime, namely human trafficking, pedopornography, cyber crime and drug trafficking;
  
  

• Increased effort in the coordination of legal and illegal migration flows through the strengthening of Frontex, the European agency that controls external borders.
  
  
  

Sources

F.X. Priollaud et D. Siritzky : Le Traité de Lisbonne, La Documentation française, Paris, 2008
R. Dehousse : politiques européennes, Sciences po Les Presses, Paris, 2009
Fundamental Rights Agency
Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union – 18/12/00 - OJEC

To find out more:

Stockholm Programme – Swedish Presidency 

DG Freedom, Security and Justice – European Commission

The European Ombudsman – European Commission

Mise à jour : 17/03/10