Relations with the United States of America
I) Latest developments
II) General context
Cooperation in the field of Justice, Freedom and Security is an important part of the strategic relationship between the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (U.S.), framed by the "New Transatlantic Agenda" since 1995.
Political and operational cooperation at European level became more prominent and intense after the terrorist attacks on Washington and New York City on 11 September 2001.
Several international agreements have been signed since: two cooperation agreements with Europol, one extradition and 1 mutual legal assistance agreement, one cooperation agreement with Eurojust, one agreement on container security, one Working Arrangement with Frontex and subsequent agreements on the transfer of passenger name records.
The fight against terrorism and transnational crime, information exchange for law enforcement purposes, protection of personal data, law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, border, visa and migration policies have been the major topics in transatlantic JHA cooperation over the last years.
The policy dialogue includes regular meetings at the level of Ministers, senior officials and experts. Working-level and operational cooperation has also been enhanced over the years and takes place in multiple ways on a daily basis. It is reinforced by the posting of two attachés at the US mission in Brussels (U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Justice – the latter also serving as liaison officer with Eurojust), 5 U.S. liaison officers at Europol , while there are also one JHA Counsellor and two Europol liaison officers posted at the EU delegation in Washington D.C. Moreover, U.S. Congress and the European Parliament entertain a "Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue".