Freedom, security and justice

Freedom, security and justice

The European Union extends to its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured. This objective is realised through the establishment of the European Union’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (EU AFSJ), previously known as the justice and home affairs cooperation, which seeks to put in place common policies in relation to asylum, immigration, border control, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters and law enforcement cooperation.

The EU AFSJ policy is perhaps one of the most topical regulatory areas of EU law, addressing issues in relation to the Schengen Area, the EU’s ability to react to large scale movements of people, what responsibility and solidarity measures EU Member States should contribute with to the Common European Asylum System and how the EU should respond to new threats and better combat transnational crimes.

Our offer

Throughout our activities, whether trainings, research or consultancy, we seek to provide a broad understanding of how the present regulatory framework came into being, what the EU has achieved in this policy area, where it currently stands and how it contributes to the general objective of establishing an EU Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. At the same time, we believe that the underlying issues related to EU AFSJ policy also project much broader questions about the EU’s future, identity and responsibility. Grappling with these questions forms a core component of how we at EIPA approach our activities in this field.

We offer a range of specialised events in the fields of EU criminal law that discuss, for example, the EU‘s flagship mutual recognition instrument, the European Arrest Warrant, how evidence can be gathered in cross-border criminal cases and how the European Public Prosecutor’s Office will step-up the combat against the crimes against EU’s financial interest.

In the framework of various EU grants we work closely with a number of judicial schools, bar associations and legal practitioners in facilitating professional exchanges in relation to judicial cooperation in criminal and civil matters.