European Commission: Home Affairs

One of the fundamental objectives of the European Union is to offer its citizens an area without internal borders, where EU citizens and non-EU nationals may enter, move, live and work, bringing with them new ideas, capital and knowledge, confident that their rights are fully respected and their security ensured. Home Affairs policies have a key role to play in that context.

A project which coincides with citizens' aspirations

The EU has already put in place for its citizens the major ingredients of a shared area of prosperity and peace: a single market, an economic and monetary union and the capacity to take on global political and economic challenges. The challenge now is to ensure that freedom can be enjoyed by all and in conditions of security. This is a project which responds to the frequently expressed concerns of citizens and has a direct bearing on their daily lives.

What is "Home Affairs"?

EU Home Affairs policies contribute to the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice. They have been growing steadily over the last years and can be grouped into two broad policy areas:

• Migration and Asylum (legal and irregular migration, integration, readmission and return).
• Internal Security, which includes prevention of and fight against terrorism and organised crime, police cooperation and the management of external borders (including visa policy).

Cooperation with non-EU countries and international organisations in the above-mentioned areas is also crucial for addressing the related challenges.

Strategies guiding EU work

The importance of dealing with Home Affairs at EU level has been constantly confirmed, in particular by the Treaty of Lisbon, as well as by the strategies and work programmes adopted by the EU for guiding the development of its policies in this area. Every five years, the EU draws up a strategy, or a road map, for dealing with matters in the Home Affairs sector. The first such road map, the Tampere Programme, was adopted in 1999. It was followed by the Hague Programme in 2004.

Today, EU work on Home Affairs is based on the Stockholm Programme, which was adopted in December 2009. It takes stock of the objectives of the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum (2008) and defines a wide range of EU level actions for the next five years. In April 2010, the Commission proposed an Action Plan for implementing the Stockholm Programme