Area of freedom, security and justice

The area of ​​freedom, security and justice is a political concept of the European Union, which goes back to working in the field of justice and home affairs and, in the fields of judicial cooperation in civil matters, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, police cooperation and Policies on border checks asylum and immigration is.

History

As part of the ongoing integration became clear that in particular the internal market and the free movement risks for the Member States and their citizens can grow up. Mention may be made especially cross -border crime, uncontrolled migration, but also the problem of targeted playing off the various national legal orders against each other.

In response, the Member States have expanded by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 their political cooperation at the policy fields of justice and home affairs. These formed the so-called third pillar of the EU. This was strongly influenced by intergovernmental: decisions could only be taken unanimously by all Member States of the EU Council, the European Parliament did not have a say. Specifically, this third pillar covered the areas of:

• Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters ( PJCC )
• Judicial cooperation in civil matters ( JZZ ) and
• Accompanying measures for free movement in the EU for third country nationals, ie the harmonization of asylum, refugee, visa and immigration policy.

With the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 all these measures, the term area of ​​freedom, security and justice will be summarized and this approach was expressly raised to the rank of the Union's objectives. The Treaty of Amsterdam the JZZ and related measures for free movement of persons from the intergovernmental third pillar of the EU ( " communitarized " ) At the same time were transferred to the supranational first pillar, so also now the co-decision procedure ( with a majority vote in the Council and say for the European Parliament ) was decided. The Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, now provides that the PJCC in the context of the policy of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and police cooperation is communitarized. So that the former " was third Column " resolved and decisions on the interior and justice policy in the EU are now basically under the ordinary legislative procedure, corresponding to the co-decision procedure taken. At the same time the " accompanying measures on the free movement of persons" in Policies on border checks, asylum and immigration have been renamed.

Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark act on the basis of additional protocols only very limited with the policies in the fields of justice and home affairs.