Freedom, security and justice

One example of the evolution from an economic community towards a union for Europeans is the resolve, as expressed in the preamble, of the member states to facilitate the free movement of persons, while ensuring the safety and security of their peoples, by establishing an area of freedom, security and justice, in accordance with the provisions of the EU treaty.

Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union mentions the objectives of the Union, among which “to maintain and develop the Union as an area of freedom, security and justice, in which the free movement of persons is assured in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls, asylum, immigration and the prevention and combating of crime”.

Title IV (Articles 61 – 69) of the Treaty Establishing the European Community confers specified powers on the EC in the following fields, in addition to the free movement of persons:

abolition of internal border controls
external border controls
rules on visas
immigration policy
residence and travel of third country nationals within the Union
illegal immigration
asylum
measures to prevent and combat crime
judicial cooperation in civil matters
administrative cooperation

Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom do not participate fully.


Title VI (Articles 29 – 42) of the Treaty on European Union contains the provisions on the mainly inter-governmental fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (third pillar).

The Union’s objective is to develop common action among the member states in the fields of police and judicial cooperation in the fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and by preventing and combating crime, or otherwise.

The crimes specially mentioned in Article 29 are:

terrorism
trafficking in persons
offences against children
illicit drug trafficking
illicit arms trafficking
corruption
fraud

Europeans in general support more effective EU measures to prevent and combat serious crime.

Ralf Grahn