Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. An area of freedom, security and justice
- Document number
- 2221
- Date
- 2009
- Title
- Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. An area of freedom, security and justice
- Author/publisher
- Commission of the European Community, European Union (EU)
- Availability
- View/save PDF version of this document
- Document type(s)
- EU law, Guidelines/Recommendations, Meeting Documentation/Conference Reports,
- Keywords
- European Union, Stockholm Programme, Irregular migration, Refugee, Asylum Seekers, Brussels, COM (2009) 262/4
- Summary
- On Wednesday 10 June 2009, the European Commission adopted a communication on the Stockholm Programme. This programme will provide a framework for EU action regarding citizenship, justice, security, asylum and immigration for the next five years. In 1999, the Tampere Programme established a European area of justice, freedom and security. In 2004, this was followed by the Hague Programme, which mapped out actions in the are of freedom, security and justice for the period 2005-2010. In the field of asylum, the Commission aims to achieve a Common European Asylum System with greater solidarity and responsibility sharing between Member States by way of a voluntary internal reallocation mechanism. In addition, the Commission wants to achieve solidarity with third countries confronted with large flows of refugees and/or hosting large numbers of refugees.
The Commission stressed the importance of access to protection and adherence of the principle of non-refoulement. New forms of responsibility sharing might be considered such as protected entry procedures. Furthermore, EU resettlement efforts and the development of regional protection programmes (RPPs) will be enhanced and strengthened. Regarding border management, the Commission wants to improve the operational cooperation between Member States and Frontex. Also Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office must work together to receive people intercepted while crossing external borders. The Commission's communication on the Stockholm Programme will be reviewed and discussed by the Council and the European Parliament, with a view to adoption of the Stockholm Programme by the European Council on 10-11 December 2009. Consequently, an action plan for implementing this programme is envisaged to be adopted next spring. - Related documents