What's next for Justice and Home Affairs? 

The Commission has presented a Communication taking stock of the implementation of the Tampere agenda and setting future guidelines for a new Justice and Home Affairs agenda for the years to come. The Commission's overall assessment of the progress made on Justice and Home Affairs is positive, notably in the field of civil and criminal co-operation.

Speaking to the press, Antonio Vitorino, Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, highlighted the following priorities for the years to come:

Asylum, immigration and integration:

• The EU has to develop a common European asylum procedure, not just minimum standards, and to adopt a uniform refugee and subsidiary protection status;
• Admission policy for immigrants coming to work in the EU needs to be developed - Commissioner Vitorino conceded that the current Commission had not delivered on that point;
• EU "must" give priority to the development of integration of third country nationals;
• Solidarity in the management of external borders is essential;
• Efforts must be made to ensure that the admission of new Member States into the Schengen area is well prepared.

Fight against terrorism / Increasing security:

• Data protection - in the context of the development of security databases - is to be a priority in the years to come;
• The role of Europol and Eurojust must be reinforced, notably in the context of the fight against terrorism.

Institutional improvements:

• EU must better protect fundamental rights and enhance EU citizenship;
• Financial perspectives must match up with political priorities;
• Once agreed, advances in the draft Constitutional Treaty should be implemented as early as possible;
• Co-decision between the Council and the European Parliament and the role of national parliaments must be reinforced.

During the European Parliament annual debate on progress in Justice and Home Affairs, MEPs have called for a new summit of heads of state and government to focus exclusively on Justice and Home affairs issues. Most MEPs argued that legal immigration should be given a higher priority on the EU agenda. The Chairman of the EP Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Jorge Salvador Hernández Mollar, called for the Tampere II agenda to be built around three key ideas: legitimacy (protecting citizens rights and freedoms), effectiveness (improving the decision-making process) and solidarity (favouring European integration over national interests).

Amnesty International's assessment of the implementation of the Tampere Agenda is that the EU has created an area that has reduced the legal rights of refugees, that it is less secure than it should be and that it is an area of freedom for many, but certainly not for all.