EU JHA Council: Stockholm Programme Action Plan

Ahead of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council today, 23 April 2010, in Brussels, the European Commission has issued a brief outline of the matters to be discussed:


Justice and Home Affairs Council: 23 April 2010 in Brussels (22 April 2010; MEMO/10/148)

The Stockholm Programme Action Plan, to be presented by the Commission, is still available only in English:



Delivering an area of freedom, security and justice for Europe's citizens Action Plan Implementing the Stockholm Programme (Brussels, 20.4.2010; COM(2010) 171 final; 69 pages).



Since there has been practically no opportunity for experts or the public to digest the proposed actions, we point out a few contributions of a more general nature, which we have not mentioned before.



Toby Archer


The Stockholm Programme had hardly been anointed by the European Council, when Toby Archer of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs published a briefing paper:



The Stockholm Programme: Europe’s next step to be an “area of freedom, security and justice” (Briefing paper 49; 15 December 2009; 7 pages)

Archer’s briefing paper is a good introduction to the development of the EU’s area of freedom, security and justice (FSJ), and to some of the sensitive issues affecting future work.



Hugo Brady

Hugo Brady, of the UK based think tank the Centre for European Reform (CER), gave a critical assessment of EU justice and home affairs, as well as the Stockholm Programme:



The seven sins of Stockholm (on CER website; published in E!Sharp magazineMarch/April 2010)



Tony Bunyan

In Tony Bunyan’s view the the values the Commission professes and the actions it proposes are at odds in the Action Plan:



Statewatch Analysis: Commission: Action Plan on the Stockholm Programme: A bit more freedom and justice and a lot more security (no date; 12 pages)




Ralf Grahn