Introducing - DG JLS - European Commission

Justice, Freedom and Security from a European Commission perspective

This web site is managed by the Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security of the European Commission, whose mandate it is to ensure that the whole European Union is an area of freedom, security and justice.

The Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security (de - en - fr) is one of the European Commission's 36 departments. The role of the European Commission is to make proposals for European Union legislation. It also monitors how this legislation is implemented once it has been adopted by the EU Council of Ministers. However, in the area of Justice, Freedom and Security - a new area of European Union competence - the European Commission shares its right to make legislative proposals with the Member States.

A scoreboard to monitor the role of each EU institution

You can monitor the exact role of each European Union institution in the area of Justice, Freedom and Security by consulting the scoreboard (see icon in the tool bar on top of the screen) for the achievement of the area of freedom, security and justice, which is updated every six months.

Justice, Freedom and Security DG's mandate and structure

Its role is to ensure that the whole European Union is an area of freedom, security and justice. Its specific tasks and responsibilities are laiddown by the Treaty of Rome (see Part Two, Articles 17-22; Part Three, Title III, Articles 39-47), the Treaty of Amsterdam which came into force on 1 May 1999 and the conclusions of the European Council meeting in Tampere (Finland) in October 1999.

The European Commission has been involved from the beginning in the discussions to bring Justice, Freedom and Security matters within the ambit of the European Union. It set up a small task force for justice and home affairs when the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992. This was expanded into a full directorate-general in October 1999. Its present general Director is Jonathan Faull.