The future of Europe

With the Amsterdam Treaty, which came into effect on May 1, 1999, the process of harmonization and communitarization of policies in the areas of justice and home affairs essentially began, which until then had been conducted solely within national borders. In other words, the process for creating another common area, beyond the economic one, necessary for the political unification of Europe commenced.

The European Council held in Tampere, Finland, in October 1999, made a series of decisions aimed at creating a “Common Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice” by May 1, 2004, as mandated by the Treaty. This means that issues affecting citizens in their daily lives, such as rights and civil liberties, policies on immigration and asylum, free movement and residence of citizens, visa regulations, the fight against organized crime and terrorism, combating all forms of discrimination based on gender, race, national origin, religious belief, or sexual orientation, judicial and police cooperation, and mutual recognition of judicial decisions, will be transferred to community legislation.

The attempt to transfer rules of justice and home affairs to the Union level has proven to be extremely difficult, as these issues, along with foreign policy and defense, traditionally constitute key elements of the concept of national sovereignty. As a result, two years after Tampere, there have been significant delays in decision-making in the Council, despite the diligence shown and the initiatives undertaken by both the responsible Commissioner Antonio Vitorino and the European Parliament.

However, the events of September ¹¹, as well as the upcoming enlargement of the Union with the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and Cyprus, seem to accelerate the processes for the development of a unified space of freedom and security for citizens, as it is becoming increasingly clear that without a stable judicial framework, neither the single market nor the free movement can provide citizens with all the advantages arising from European integration.

The Belgian Presidency has shown great interest in the aforementioned issues, resulting in frequent meetings of the Council of Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs. The European Council in Laeken is expected to make significant decisions in December and adopt two new legislative texts concerning the fight against terrorism and the establishment of a European arrest warrant, along with a program that will address both the detection and identification of infectious and toxic substances and the prevention and response to the consequences of chemical or biological attacks. However, the framework decision on terrorism faced harsh criticism from Members of the European Parliament, as it carries the risk of infringing upon fundamental freedoms and rights of citizens.