The European Commission is organising a consultation on line on the future development of the European policy on freedom, security and justice.
The progressive establishment of the area of freedom, security and justice was a new objective set for the European Union by the Treaty of Amsterdam. The Tampere European Council in October 1999 placed this objective at the head of the Union’s political agenda and set a very ambitious programme. The programme set out policy guidelines and practical objectives, with a timetable for their attainment. The Commission, at the request of the European Council, drew up a scoreboard to review progress every six months.
At the end of the five-year period, the Commission presented a Communication which presents the global assessment of the first five years of activities in the establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice, and which outlines future priorities. The Communication and its annexes can be viewed on the Justice and Home Affairs website.
The aim of this Communication is to act as the basis for an analytical process, which will eventually identify the future necessary measures in the domain of justice and home affairs for the period 2004-2009.
The creation of an area of freedom, security and justice represents a major political objective. For this purpose the Commission has opened a public consultation and invites interested parties and individuals to respond with their contributions for a new programme by 31 August 2004.
The results of this consultation will be presented by the Commission to the other institutions in order to fuel the debate and better define the objectives for the future of this policy.
