Objectives

The objective is to assess the medium and long term impact of the external border control regime particularly following the 11th September 2001 events on other areas of European Union policy, especially in the development of an EU immigration policy. Special attention will be devoted to institutional developments in police and judicial co-operation.

Description of work/methodology

Opportunities for improving existing and proposed systems of co-operation will be accorded the same degree of attention as potential difficulties in border controls and related matters. In order to create a climate in which responses to request information and assistance from other Member States, it is necessary to establish a high level of trust and good co-ordination between the national authorities engaged in co-operation and mutual assistance. Methods of establishing trust will be of particular focus to this operation as well as the recommendations, which flow from it. High quality, specialized expertise is available for this operation and contact has already been established with senior officials in the Commission and Council of Ministers. In order to assess the difficulties in achieving co-operation and mutual assistance in the areas to be researched in this work package (see below) we shall, following a study of the state of the art and a mapping of competencies, assess what are the areas which have caused a potential frictions and strains between Member states themselves, between Member states and candidate countries as well as affecting external relations with neighbouring states. These areas of policy will be compared with those areas of policy in JHA where more alignment was possible to assess the reasons why a closer co-operation and mutual trust were possible in some policy areas of JHA and not others as well as what possible policy spill-over followed as a consequence of such. Semi-structured interviews will be carried out with officials from the EU Institutions, national governments of member states and candidate states.

A network of 20 experts working on research related to Justice and Home Affairs in an Enlarged Union will be collaborating on this work package. This multi-disciplinary network which has already been working together for the last year, includes eminent academics as well as members with practical judicial and legislative backgrounds drawn from both EU Member States, applicant countries as well as neighbouring states.

The work of the network will focus on the following activities :

Seven reports relating to Border Controls, Immigration Policy and JHA in an enlarged European Union will be produced.

Each report shall look at policy options and proposes concrete recommendations to decision-makers on the basis of an evaluation of a set of questions surrounding each of the issues listed below :

Border controls Is the existing border control regime effective for an enlarged European Union in achieving the stated aims of policy ? Is the Schengen acquis sufficiently flexible for the new borders ? Is an European border police or border control authority practical and desirable ? What other measures may be available to promote burden sharing ? Are the 1992 London resolutions and the Dublin Convention on asylum policy adequate to the circumstances of an enlarged EU ?

Immigration policy Does the size of the EU and the location of its frontiers affect the possible content of a common immigration policy ? Does a common immigration policy, other than a declaratory policy, imply a further communitarization in this area ? Are visas for nationals of states bordering the enlarged EU a sufficiently important instrument in the control of illegal immigration to counter balance their negative effects ?

Crime control Will the present or projected arrangements (e.g. Europol, Corpus Juris, Action Plan against Organized Crime, European Arrest Warrant, etc.) be subject to new strains and pressures as a result of Enlargement ? Has the pre-accession Pact on Organized Crime (10 CEEC states and Cyprus - OJC No C220/1 15 July 1998) been of practical value ? Are the routinized forms of cooperation subject to strain because of the different technical and management capacities of the present candidate states ? Does the cost, in terms or additional co-ordination, of complex new EU arrangements outweigh the tangible benefits ? What are the problems of crime control cooperation across the new Eastern frontier ?

New frameworks for closer cooperation In an enlarged EU, what role in criminal law enforcement has bilateral co-operation and reinforced co-operation between a limited number of Member States ? Are there new areas in which the candidate states would seek and profit from closer co-operation with Member States ? Is there another Gibraltar precedent, i.e. despite Article 32 (1) (g) of the TEU, one state has blocked the participation of another Member State in Schengen.

Freedom of Movement Does it imply two aspects : the freedom to cross borders and the freedom to reside and work ? Is there basis for the fears that excessive numbers of people will move from the candidate states westwards to the EU once the date(s) of accession have been decided. What is the potential impact of free movement rights on both the old and the new Member States ? What are the implications in specialized areas such as social security rights for family members of EU migrant workers. Do temporary movers pose problems, e.g. evasion of tax, social security regulations or willfully ignoring health and safety regulations ? What are the implications of enlargement for the freedom of movement of resident third country nationals ? Can population flows be controlled if there is demand for labour in the EU as a result of an ageing population ?

The incorporation of the acquis communautaire Will the adoption of the legal order and practice of the Community as well as the entire secondary EC legislation by the candidate states promote strains on JHA after accession ? Will the new members wish to call a halt or to slow down the pace of integration because the costs of further change have become too high ? Is a two or three tier Europe likely to develop in the medium term in JHA ? Will anti-corruption measures, bearing in mind the corruption endemic in Member States of the EU, represent an area of particular difficulty ?

The exclusion/marginalisation of Non-Member States Has the EU security regime an expansionary dynamic ? Is there a possibility to establish a close co-operative relationship with the Eastern neighbours in certain aspects of JHA arrangements along the lines of the Schengen agreement with Norway, Iceland and Switzerland ? What are the perspectives of the candidate members on neighbouring states on the issues posed ? Can these perspectives have any influence on EU policy ?