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JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
One of the fundamental objectives of the
European Union, according to the Treaty of Amsterdam on the European Union (EU)
which came into force on 1 May 1999 states that the EU must be maintained and
developed as an area of freedom, security and justice; (an area) in which the
free movement of persons is assured; in conjunction with appropriate measures
with respect to external border controls, asylum, immigration and the
prevention and combating of crime. To ensure an area of freedom, security and
justice, the EU is involved with the following policies:
ASYLUM
Asylum is a form of protection given by a State on
its territory based on the principle of non-refoulement
and internationally or nationally recognised refugee rights. It is granted to a
person who is unable to seek protection in his/her country of citizenship
and/or residence in particular for fear of being persecuted for reasons of
race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
political opinion.
Leaders of the European Union (EU)
are committed to developing the EU into an area where people facing tragic
circumstances can seek refuge. In October 1999, they agreed to establish a set
of commonly agreed basic rules and principles establishing a common European
asylum system against the background of a common asylum and immigration policy.
The right to asylum is guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the
European Union, with due respect for the rules of the Geneva Convention of 28
July 1951
and the protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees
and in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community. The
Charter also states that no one may be removed, expelled or extradited to a
State where there is a serious risk that he or she would be subjected to death
penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
A common asylum policy is being
implemented and a common asylum system is being established, which in a long
run should lead to a common asylum procedure and a uniform status for those
granted asylum valid throughout the Union.
More on asylum: http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/asylum/fsj_asylum_intro_en.htm
IMMIGRATION
All Member States of the European
Union (EU) are affected by the flow of international migration. They have
agreed to develop a common immigration policy at EU level by
establishing a common legal framework concerning the conditions of admission
and stay of third-country nationals on the one hand, and an open coordination
procedure to encourage the gradual convergence of policies not covered by
European legislation on the other. The objective is to manage migration flows
better by a coordinated approach which takes into account the economic and
demographic situation of the EU.
More on immigration policy: http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/immigration/fsj_immigration_intro_en.htm
POLICE COOPERATION
As more and more Europeans take
advantage of their rights to move freely around the European Union (EU), similarly,
the activities of international terrorist groups and criminal organisations
benefit from and use this freedom. Better and closer co-operation between
national and local law-enforcement agencies in the European Union is crucial to
ensure that the EU develops into a genuine single area of freedom, security and
justice, where individuals’ rights are protected and organised crime
efficiently countered.
In the field of police
co-ordination, the European Commission has identified a set of priorities to be
addressed:
-
create
coordinating bodies for operative information ( Europol) and top-level
inter-personal communication (European Police Chiefs Task Force); for the training
of personnel (European Police College); for participation in peacekeeping
efforts (European Rapid Reaction Force);
-
crime
prevention across the Member States (spreading knowledge of successful crime
prevention initiatives across the EU and Crime-Prevention Forum);
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police
aspects of the Schengen Convention on Free
Circulation;
-
combating
hooliganism at major sports events;
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counter
terrorism
What has been achieved so far?
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the
development of Europol, an EU-level information, co-ordination and exchange
centre staffed by police and customs officers;
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the
European Crime-Prevention Network and Crime-Prevention Forum were launched in
2001
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a
European peacekeeping force has become operational in 2003 aimed at managing and controlling low-level conflict on
European borders;
-
Joint
Police Stations and Police and Customs Co-operation Centres have been set up at
many internal borders
More on Police Cooperation: http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/police/fsj_police_intro_en.htm
CUSTOMS COOPERATION
Customs authorities at the heart of
the fight against cross-border organised crime in the EU. Together with police
cooperation, customs cooperation was introduced into the inter-governmental
part of the Maastricht Treaty on the European Union in 1992. Article 29 of the
treaty of the European Union provides for closer cooperation between police
forces, customs authorities and other competent authorities in the Member
States.
Within their national competencies,
customs administrations of the Member States contribute to the fight against
cross-border crime through the prevention, detection, investigation and
prosecution of activities in the areas of irregular or illegal movement of
goods, the trafficking in prohibited goods, money laundering and the protection
of the financial, cultural and environmental interests as well as the health,
safety and security of the EU citizens. The competences of customs administrations
differ widely between Member States. EU customs provisions are generally wholly
within the jurisdiction of national customs administrations.
The EU is currently developing a
customs information system, to allow national customs services to share information
on movements across borders; a customs files identification database to enable
the national authorities to identify authorities of other Member States which
are investigating or have investigated a person/ business; mutual assistance to
improve the effectiveness of customs cooperation and law enforcement in the EU.
More on Customs
Cooperation:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/customs/fsj_customs_intro_en.htm
ORGANISED CRIME
In view of fighting the organised
crime the EU is working towards establishing common institutional and legal
framework: Europol and Eurojust have been created to
enhance cooperation against organised crime and the creation of a European
Prosecutor would further strengthen the institutional framework. Much progress
is being made at approximating the national legislation, in particular through
defining proportionate and dissuasive penal sanctions; at sectoral
level, decisions are being adopted in a variety of areas such as trafficking in
human beings, cybercrime, confiscation of proceeds of
organised crime etc. Work along those lines will continue with a view to
covering all relevant sectors that allow organised crime to flourish.
Continued efforts will be undertaken
to strengthen mutual recognition and mutual legal assistance provisions, with a
view to ensuring equivalent criminal law protection to all citizens in the EU,
to facilitate judicial cooperation in general and fill the legal loopholes
between national jurisdictions which are being exploited by organised crime. There
is also scope for further developing specifically targeted investigative tools
and judicial instruments to facilitate the prosecution of organised crime,
while respecting privacy legislation and the rule of law.
More on organised crime:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/crime/fsj_crime_intro_en.htm
DRUGS COORDINATION
Nearly one in five of the European
Union population has used an illicit drug at least once. An increase in drugs
and organised crime tops the list of fears among European citizens, with 69%
seeing it as the greatest threat to our society. Dealing with the complex
issues posed by drugs has been a major challenge for the European Union. To
answer this call, the European Commission has mustered the full extent of its
expertise in the fields of health and consumer protection, education and culture,
employment and social affairs, development, enlargement, justice and home
affairs, the internal market, research, energy and transport, taxation and
customs and statistics. It has developed a multidisciplinary and integrated
approach to the drugs phenomenon.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/drugs/fsj_drugs_intro_en.htm
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The progressive elimination of
border control within the EU has considerably facilitated the free movement of
European citizens, but has also make it easier for criminals to operate transnationally, especially since the scope of the law
enforcement authorities and criminal justice system within the European Union
(EU) has for a long time been largely limited to the boundaries of their
respective States. In order to face the challenge of international crime, the
EU is progressing toward a single area of justice. First, EU Member States have
agreed to approximate the definition of offences and the level of sanctions for
certain type of offences, in particular when they had transnational
aspects. Second, mutual recognition of decisions taken by national judges is
set to become the cornerstone of judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
Various specific tools to facilitate practical judicial cooperation have also
been adopted and are now effective. Finally, the EU is starting to be perceived
as a specific partner on judicial cooperation in the international scene.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/criminal/fsj_criminal_intro_en.htm
CIVIL MATTERS – JUDICIAL
CO-OPERATION
The principle of free movement of
goods, services and people has encouraged mobility among European citizens and
in commercial activities. Thus, the main objective of cooperation in civil law
is to establish better collaboration between the authorities of Member States
to facilitate the movement of these citizens and commercial activities. The
principle of mutual recognition is the cornerstone of judicial co-operation in
both civil and criminal matters. The Justice and Home affairs Council adopted
on 30 November 2000, a programme of measures for
implementation of the principle of mutual recognition of decisions in civil and
commercial matters. The final goal is that judicial decisions should be
recognised and enforced in another Member State without any additional intermediate
step, in other words, suppression of exequatur.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/civil/fsj_civil_intro_en.htm
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
Protecting fundamental rights and
creating a European area of freedom, security and justice are two of the key
goals of European integration. There are several tools available for enshrining
these rights. Perhaps the best known of all is the Charter of Fundamental
Rights proclaimed by European Union (EU) leaders in December 2000. It stems
from the EU Treaty, European Court of Justice case-law, the European Union
Member States constitutional traditions and the Council of Europe’s European
Convention on Human Rights. In December 2003, the European Council decided to
extend the remit of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in
order to convert it into a Fundamental Rights Agency.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/rights/fsj_rights_intro_en.htm
DATA PROTECTION
Developments of a frontier free
Internal Market and of the so called 'information society' increase the
cross-frontier flows of personal data between Member States of the EU. In order
to remove potential obstacles to such flows and to ensure a high level of
protection within the EU, data protection legislation has been harmonised. The
Commission also engages in dialogues with non-EU countries in order to insure a
high level of protection when exporting personal data to those countries. It
also initiates studies on the development on European and international level
on the state of data protection
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/privacy/index_en.htm
EUROPEAN UNION
CITIZENSHIP
Every person holding the nationality
of a Member State of the European Union is a citizen
of the Union. Citizenship of the Union supplements national citizenship
without replacing it. It is made up of the following set of rights enshrined in
the EU Treaties:
-
the
right to move and reside freely within the EU;
-
the
right to vote for and stand as a candidate at municipal and European Parliament
elections in whichever Member State an EU citizen resides;
-
access
to the diplomatic and consular protection of another Member State outside the EU;
-
the
right to petition the European Parliament and to complain to the European
Ombudsman;
-
the
right to contact and receive a response from any EU institution in any one of
12 languages;
-
the
right to access Parliament, European Commission, and Council documents under
certain conditions;
-
the
right to non-discrimination on grounds of nationality within the scope of
Community law;
-
the
guarantee of fundamental rights as upheld by the European Convention on Human
Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU;
-
protection
from discrimination based on sex ,racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief,
disability, age or sexual orientation;
-
equal access to the Community civil service.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/citizenship/fsj_citizenship_intro_en.htm
FREEDOM TO TRAVEL
The free movement of persons between the Member States of the
EU is one of the basic aims of the Union. What has become true for capital,
goods and services has to be a reality for people too. A right of
free movement across the EU was originally envisaged only for the working
population, as a single market could not be achieved while limitations to
workforce mobility remained in existence. Yet, thanks to the rising social and
human dimension of the European area, the right to free movement has since been
extended to include all categories of citizens, to
dependants, to students and to those who are no longer economically active.
Since the integration of the Schengen Acquis into Community law, the notion of
"free movement" is used in two senses. First, in the traditional sense
of free movement and secondly in the sense of being able to cross the internal
borders without undergoing checks.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/freetravel/fsj_freetravel_intro_en.htm
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
The European Union (EU) is a major partner on the
international scene in the field of justice and home affairs. In the external
dimension aspect, its specific objectives are to foster political stability,
economic prosperity and the rule of law with neighbouring countries. This
encompasses overcoming such challenges as restoring the rule of law,
controlling migratory movements, and fighting organised crime. These activities
require close cooperation with partner countries and international
organisations such as the Council of Europe, OSCE, OECD and the United Nations.
The guiding principles for the external dimension of justice and home
affairs are fourfold:
-
relevance in
creating an area of freedom, security and justice;
-
added
contribution to actions already performed by Member States;
-
contribution
to the general political objectives of the EU's external policy
-
completion
within a reasonable period of time.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/external/fsj_external_intro_en.htm
ENLARGEMENT
Justice and Home
Affairs issues are new and crutial to the EU enlargement process. Though EU
Member States have difficulty in meeting all of the requirements of EU law, the
challenge faced by the applicant countries is immense. Some of the main issues
have their background in history: most of the applicant countries developed
under a communist system and for some, concepts such as an independent
judiciary are relatively new. The closed borders of the Cold War will become
open, whereas the relatively open eastern borders of the past will be
controlled. Many countries lack the financial means necessary to introduce
sophisticated law-enforcement mechanisms over a short period of time.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/enlargement/fsj_enlarge_intro_en.htm
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