The New Europe
Justice and Home Affairs
Directorate-General
for Justice, Freedom and Security split into two DGs: Justice and Home Affairs
July
1, 2010
Commissioner
for Home Affairs 2010-2014 Cecilia Malmstrom (SE)
Goal of Home Affairs:
is to create an area without
internal borders where EU citizens and third-country nationals may enter,
move, live and work,
bringing with them new ideas, capital and knowledge or filling gaps in the labour market, in line with the Europe 2020 strategy
Europe
2020
Employment
and innovation (smart growth)
Education
Social
Inclusion
Climate/Energy
Border
Control
Cooperation
in this area began with the Schengen Agreement (1985)
Incorprated into
Maastricht, Amsterdam treaties
Commission now has
exclusive right of initiative (change from when it was a third pillar area;
explain)
Became part of the acquis in the Lisbon Treaty
(through the Prum Convention aka Schengen III)
What does this
mean? Part of the acquis communautaire?
Schengenland
Opt
outs for UK, IR (DK is part of Schengen despite opting out
of other aspects of JHA cooperation)
Includes
non-EU members Iceland, Norway, Switzerland
And
microstates Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican
Countries
preparing to joing: Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and non EU member Lichtenstein
to
collect intelligence on border security
training
and border control
Examples
of Operations
Home
Affairs
Two
priorities must be balanced:
security and migration
Security from
terrorism, organized crime
Migration to fill
labour market gaps, maintain growth
*Create
a new and flexible admission systems for economic immigration;
*Launch
initiatives to support smooth integration of immigrants into our societies;
*Create
a common European Migration and Asylum system based on solidarity and respect
of human rights
Links
between Security and Migration
e.g. terrorism, organized crime
refugee/migrant
situation in the Mediterranean
Operation Hermes : Frontex,
Italy, Lampedusa
Operation Poseidon: Greek-Turkish border
Was to be in place by 2010
Mostly there
Common reception conditions
Common criteria for refugee status
Fund:
European Refugee Fund to share costs of processing, caring for refuges
Designated safe countries for return/transit
Designated who must process claim for asylum (1st
safe country entered)
Has
4 directorates: Civil Justice
Criminal Justice
Fundamental Rights and Union Citizenship
Equality
Seeks
to protect rights of EU citizens in each member state
Harmonise
CJ systems
Protect
civil rights/equality
Remnants
of Òthird pillarÓ here: police
cooperation and judicial cooperation
Terrorism
and Organized Crime
Cooperation
dates back to the Trevi Group 1975 (12 EU member states)
Coordinated
intelligence gathering
To
fight organized crime, transnational crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking