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Commissioner Frattini's Speech on 'The Commission's policy priorities in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice'

Vice-President Bodewig,
Honourable Members of Parliament,

It is a pleasure for me to meet you today and to present some of my priorities for the coming year.

The European Commission attaches great importance to sustaining and improving our dialogue with national parliaments. As you are certainly aware of, the Constitution provides for increased information and transparency in the relationship between the European institutions and national parliaments. Their role is strengthened also as concerns the application of subsidiarity. It is in the spirit of these forthcoming changes that I am addressing you today.

Justice, Freedom and Security has been on top of the agenda of the European Union for the last five years.

This "explosion" has however not come about due to the expansion of the competencies of the Union as such, but rather due to the fact that reality has imposed itself and showed the need for common policies on a number of key areas, areas very close to the daily life of every citizen. Let me explain:

• With the removal of internal borders, the Union needs to define a common approach on how to manage our external borders and develop common policies on visa, asylum and immigration;
  
  
• Based on the common values underpinning the Union, a common approach is needed in terms of fulfilling our international obligations towards refugees from third countries;
  
  
• Events in New York and Madrid have made the threat of terrorism painfully clear; this challenge cannot be met by Member States acting alone; the same goes for countering organised and serious crime, and the scourge of drug use;
  
  
• An area without internal frontiers must be an area of justice in order to serve its citizens, where criminals can find no safe havens and where citizens and business are not discouraged by cross-border obstacles when seeking to exercise their rights.

As a red thread throughout all these areas, we find the obligation to ensure that individual liberties are not only safeguarded but also actively promoted. The Charter of Fundamental Rights is the symbol of this desire at European level, but it cannot remain merely a symbol. The Constitution reinforces the capacity of the Charter to act as an efficient tool ensuring the full respect of fundamental rights, and from the start of my mandate I intend to make this aspect of my responsibilities a priority.

For the future, the new Commission has already reaffirmed its commitment to make justice, freedom and security one of its overarching priorities.

I am currently working on an action plan to live up to the expectations of the citizens of Europe for the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice. As you are aware, the European Council endorsed in November last year to a multi-annual programme - the Hague programme - which sets the priorities for the next five years.

The Commission was given the responsibility to draw up the action plan for making a reality of the Hague programme which will be presented in May 2005 with proposals for concrete actions and a timetable for their adoption and implementation.

In addition the Commission will also be responsible for producing an annual report about the implementation of Union measures.

Since the programme will run for a period in which the Constitutional Treaty should enter into force, a mid-term review of its implementation will take place in the second half of 2006.

I would like to illustrate some of the key Hague priorities.

As I have already emphasised, everything the Union does must continue to be firmly anchored in the respect for fundamental rights.

I consider that the integration of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Constitution and the future accession of the Union to the European Convention for the protection of human rights will be major steps forward.

For 2005, I have the intention to present a proposal for transforming the Vienna Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia into an Agency for Fundamental Rights. Following a wide-ranging public consultation, I am encouraged by the strong support given by Member States as well as civil society to the idea to create this Agency, which should be operational by 2007.

In the area of asylum, a first package of measures is now in place, guaranteeing similar treatment across the Union. In the next two years, my intention is to focus on the evaluation of this set of measures. On this basis it will be possible to make further progress toward a Common European Asylum System. In the longer term, this will result in the adoption of a uniform refugee and subsidiary protection status, with a common procedure for recognising and withdrawing the status.

Within the asylum policy we should also continue to fight against asylum abuses. Focus should be given to getting efficient administrative decision-making procedures on return, reintegration schemes and entry procedures that deter unfounded requests and combat networks of people traffickers.

The possibility of regional protection programmes, will, in my opinion, require further attention also.

The Commission will carefully examine the possibility of joint processing of asylum applications as requested by the European Council.

Regarding immigration, a realistic approach taking into account the economic and demographic evolution of our continent means that we should consider ways of facilitating legal admission for employment purposes. I have launched a wide-ranging public consultation on this issue with the publication of a Green paper in the beginning of this year. On the basis of that consultation, and before the end of 2005, we could present a policy plan on legal migration including admission procedures capable of responding promptly to fluctuating demands for migrant labour in the labour market.

Obviously, the rights of Member States to determine the volumes of entry of third-country nationals in their territory will be preserved, in line with the Constitutional Treaty. Let me be very clear on this last point: the Commission has neither intention nor the authority to impinge on national sovereignty on this matter which is of the responsibility of each Member State to handle. In addition, the principle of 'Community preference' will apply. At the same time, a fair treatment to third country nationals will have to be guaranteed.

Integration policy will be further promoted: common basic principles underlying a coherent European framework on integration are outlined in the new programme. Concretely, our aim will be to promote the structural exchange of experience and information on integration.

Consultations will be launched in 2005 on the possible establishment of a European Migration Monitoring Centre, which could help in getting objective, reliable and comparable information on migration and asylum.

Partnership with third countries of origin and transit is particularly relevant. This should help third countries improve their capacity for migration management and refugee protection, prevent and combat illegal immigration. It will provide information on legal channels for migration, resolve refugee situations by providing better access to durable solutions, build border control capacity, enhance document security and tackle the problem of return. The European Neighbourhood Policy will provide an appropriate framework for these partnerships.

Common standards for persons to be returned in a human way and in full respect for human rights should be developed, in order to establish common standards for return procedures that also support effectiveness. The timely conclusion of readmission agreements should be a priority.

The credibility of an open approach to immigration will also depend on the ability to fight against illegal immigration. This also means that we should continue to move towards an integrated management system for the external borders. Several useful measures aimed at safeguarding common standards of controls and surveillance on the Union's external borders have been put forward, such as the creation of a Border Agency which will become operational this year.

Another important priority is the extension of the Schengen acquis to the new Member States. In view of their full participation in Schengen and the lifting of checks at the internal borders, the new Member States will have to be submitted to the evaluation process and get the green light from the Council. I am glad that the new programme already sets the beginning of the evaluation process in 2006.

Eurojust and Europol must be used effectively by the national authorities and constitute key supporting central points and information exchange facilities. Police cooperation should be strengthened:

standards and modules for training courses will be developed with the cooperation of CEPOL, the European Police College, as well as through an exchange programme for police authorities.

Of course, the prevention and repression of terrorism will be a key element of the future work in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice.

Member States should use the powers of their intelligence and security services not only to counter threats to their own security, but also to protect the internal security of other Member States. A high level of exchange of information between security services must be maintained and improved, taking into account the overall principle of availability and striking the right balance between the need for security and the respect of data protection rules. The Commission has already proposed a package of new measures for the fight against terrorism, including the issue of financing of terrorism and protection of critical infrastructure.

This year, I will bring forward proposals for the purpose of creating a comprehensive information policy in relation to police and judicial cooperation in the Union, where the principle of availability will be balanced with the protection of fundamental rights through the establishment of adequate safeguards for the transfer of personal data.

Crime prevention remains an important aspect to be further strengthened. We will develop instruments for collecting, analysing and comparing information on crime and victimisation and their trends.

A strategic concept with regard to tackling organised crime will be further developed by the Council and the Commission. This Strategy on Organised Crime should be adopted shortly and define the main measures in this field. Special attention should be given to the fight against corruption.

In 2005, legislative proposals will be brought forward to strengthen the fight against counterfeiting and to improve the protection of intellectual property rights afforded by criminal law.

Regarding judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters, important progress has been made so far. Mutual recognition is the cornerstone of judicial cooperation when decisions have to be applied cross-border. We now need to go further and deeper, in particular as regards mutual recognition and the enforcement of judgments in family law, but also continuing to work on contract law. I will present initiatives relating to the recognition and enforcement of maintenance obligations later this year for this very purpose.

In judicial cooperation in criminal matters the process will be continued as regards both mutual recognition measures and the enforcement of judgments in criminal matters. Attention should notably be paid to gathering and admissibility of evidence, conflicts of jurisdiction, the ne bis in idem principle and the execution of final sentences of imprisonment.

In criminal matters as in civil matters, the development of mutual recognition must always be subject to the respect for the Member States' differing legal traditions. It is also necessary to bear in mind that our work in this field must be guided by the need to ensure that our legal systems provide the adequate predictability and clarity for the citizens as well as for legal practitioners.

The growing intensity of justice, freedom and security matters as a policy of the Union has, in recent years, been coupled with the greater efforts to ensure that external policies adequately reflect this dimension also. Following the request of the European Council, the Commission will present this year a Strategy on all external aspects of Union policy in the area of freedom, security and justice.

With this I believe I have provided an overview of what is in the pipeline for the further development of policy in the European Union, and where the focus will be on legislation and improved cooperation between Member States. These measures to a large extent follow in a straight line the work already accomplished over the last five years.

Two new dimensions, however, will have to be added when we look ahead for the next five years.

The first is an increased emphasis on evaluation and implementation. Adopting legislation is never enough - equally important is to ensure that it is properly implemented and applied in practice, and this is a key responsibility of the Commission in the institutional framework of the Union. Adopting new legislation will not help if existing legislation is not used to its full potential.

The Hague programme rightly puts a lot of emphasis on this point and the Commission will seek to develop further the tools and mechanisms at its disposal, not only to ensure the implementation of legislation as such but also to evaluate the actual impact, and possible short-comings, of the measures agreed upon.

I would nevertheless like to stress that an increased focus on implementation and evaluation is not mutually exclusive to continuing pursuing an ambitious legislative agenda with new initiatives. The policy priorities that I have outlined today respond to concrete needs which are not met by existing legislation, however well it is implemented. The identification of new measures and proper implementation of existing ones must therefore go hand in hand.

The second new dimension involves a broadening of the range of policy instruments that we have at our disposal to make the area of freedom, security and justice a reality.

Financial means to support the policy aims of the Union in this area have remained fairly modest over the last five years, with the exception of the financial support given to the new Member States upon accession to facilitate their compliance with the Schengen acquis. For the future it is however clear that this is not enough.

EU spending can achieve better value for money compared to spending at national level in meeting the challenges posed by immigration, asylum and protection of our external borders.

Improved operational cooperation and a degree of burden-sharing between Member States will allow for pooling of available resources and a more efficient use of public funds.

Synergy effects can be achieved by EU spending in the fight against terrorism, complementing and stimulating national efforts and demonstrating EU-wide solidarity against a threat which cannot be met by Member States acting alone.

The overall budget will however remain modest - we are not talking about the kind of financial interventions that are done in the context of agricultural or regional policy. For example, in 2007, the share of the Community's budget devoted to freedom, security and justice will remain less than 1%.

In the beginning of this presentation I put a strong emphasis on the priority I attach to the protection of fundamental rights, and I would like to conclude by raising again a specific aspect of this domain. In cooperation with several fellow Commissioners I have taken the initiative to draw up an inventory of the measures that have been taken or are under way for the purpose of protecting the rights of children at the level of the European Union.

On this basis I intend to develop a strategy on how we can further develop and strengthen our efforts to do all that is within our powers to ensure the full respect of the rights of the children and their protection in Europe as well as in the rest of the world.

Vice-President Bodewig, Honourable Members, I have sought to outline some of the challenges ahead of us, as well as the measures I have in mind. I hope I can count on the support of the Bundestag in continuing to build all together, at every level, an area of justice, freedom and security which meets the challenges in a way that responds to the expectations of our citizens.

Let me finish by mentioning another, very important challenge: the ratification of the Constitution, necessary for the new Treaty to enter into force. The signing of the Treaty in Rome on 29 October 2004 was a decisive step for the European Union. This Constitution represents the completion of a long process marked by ever closer integration and by the successive enlargements of the Union. It is essential to meet this challenge!

Thank you for your attention.

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