Welcome to my website! Here you will find useful information about European Union policies in the fields of justice, freedom and security, about my team and about me personally. In an EU of 27 Member States, where people and goods are able to move freely, the construction of a genuine area of justice, freedom and security represents a new horizon for the development of Europe.
European citizens expect the EU to ensure their individual and collective protection and to safeguard their freedoms and fundamental rights. The achievement of this aim requires a basis of mutual recognition in the area of civil justice, the respecting of privacy and free movement and the fight against all forms of discrimination. It also requires more efficient judicial and police co-operation.
At the same time, citizens expect Europe to be able to respond to the major challenge of migration flows. We need to develop a coordinated system of management for legal and illegal immigration and for asylum between Member States and with third countries, based on solidarity and respect for human beings.
As you can see, my agenda is a very busy and very exciting one! You can be sure that I will listen and that you can rely on my commitment and determination to work on these important matters.If you would like more in-depth information about our various policies, please visit the website of the Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security.
Also, please let us know your comments and suggestions; they are vital for us to move forward together!The moving ceremonies to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, and the Franco-German commemoration of 11 November 1918 serve as a reminder: having overcome bloody conflicts and terrible dictatorships, Europe - our Europe - is an experiment in reconciliation that can serve as an example to the world.
In the name of the peace we have shared for the last 65 years, let us wish for an enlightened decision from the European Council when it chooses a High Representative for Foreign Policy Thursday. Let them choose someone who can be an effective mediator, on behalf of Europe, in all the major regional conflicts around the world.
But it is also important for "post-Lisbon" Europe to draw new energy from the emerging sense of European citizenship felt by an increasing number of Europeans. Our multi-annual Stockholm programme, aimed at creating a real European community of rights, is a step along the way. In future, nationals of every EU country must be able to exercise their rights anywhere in Europe.
In this context, France has just initiated a public debate on national identity - or perhaps I should say French identity, thinking back to Fernand Braudel's ideas.
President Sarkozy was right to remind us of the fundamental values of the French republican ideal. Freedom, equality and fraternity are about being open to others. They imply respect for our fellow citizens and the laws of the land - fundamental for living together.
But, these values must be translated into action. They must inspire a European ideal.
The debate will be useful if it leads to a renewed effort to integrate migrant populations. France, like many other European countries, still has work to do in this respect - and of course, an effort will also be required from the migrant populations themselves. At a time when globalisation is tending to scramble our cultural references, the French are certainly in need of information and reassurance in the form of a calm debate about their identity and common heritage - what you might call the French "cement". They have to beware of judging themselves too harshly - of practising some very French self-flagellation...
In a calmer frame of mind, they will be more confident about opening up to others - to the people who suffered behind the iron curtain and for whom France has real moral standing; to people who come from other parts of the world to be part of the national community; to the people we have a duty to welcome because they have been persecuted in their own countries.
More than ever, France needs to rejoice in its diversity, its differences, its inter-mixing.
The debate will also be useful if it refers to the future as being inevitably a European future, and if it helps to build the concept of European citizenship. A citizenship rich in cultural diversity and universal values. Free, protected, committed and united. European citizenship capable of inspiring thoughts of world citizenship.
Let us not forget that it was Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman who nurtured the grand European project. Let us not forget the skill of the French in managing international organisations, from the European Central Bank to the International Monetary Fund, via the World Trade Organisation.
This is real cause for legitimate French pride. And the reason why, as we move out of this over-long institution-centred interlude, French leaders must put all their energy into reviving Europe so it can play a full, effective and properly acknowledged role in the new multi-polar world.
France's roots, its past and its values, will enable it to nourish new ambitions at European and global level, far removed from mere political expediency, far removed from the reflexes of fear and withdrawal which can be provoked by the seriousness of the crisis.
So that is how, starting from the French identity, this debate can lead to a European identity well anchored in the heart of each of my compatriots and on a positive vision of the new world community. Without doubt, French identity will be enriched by such a far-sighted vision.
Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.
