EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Living Europe Safely – German EU Presidency Domestic Programme

Living Europe Safely – German EU Presidency Domestic Programme

Introduction

“Living Europe Safely” is the domestic policy work programme for the German EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2007. It outlines the Presidency’s priorities in the field of safety and security. Main line of thought in the document is that only further European integration in the field of Justice and Home Affairs can offer real solutions to the safety issues challenging Europe.

Description

The work programme addresses the following issues:

the fight against international terrorism and cross-border crime
joint management of migration
cooperation with third countries on domestic affairs
cooperation among public administrations in Europe
promotion of integration and intercultural dialogue
and shaping the future of European domestic policy

In detail, the German EU Presidency proposes the following:

Europol needs to be strengthened. This means giving Europol additional powers. Another priority will be transposing the Europol Convention into the EU’s legal framework. In the future, Europol should be responsible for fighting all forms of serious cross-border crime.
Another priority for Germany is improving police cooperation between Member States. Germany wants to give all Member States access to DNA, fingerprint data and vehicle registries and allow them to ask other Member States for police reinforcements in case of major international sport competitions or serious accidents. These arrangements are laid down in the Prüm Treaty, signed by seven Member States so far (see link below).
The German Presidency’s work programme also calls for closer collaboration on monitoring and analysing websites and better protection of critical infrastructures against terrorist attack.
Germany finds it important for people to be able to travel between the old and new Member States without having to undergo border checks. The prerequisite for opening the borders is for all Member States to be connected to the common Schengen Information System (SIS).
In the field of the joint management of migration, the work programme in particular calls for significantly strengthening the European border management agency FRONTEX. In the future, more joint teams of Member State border policing specialists should be deployed wherever there is a high incidence of illegal entry attempts and at all larger border checkpoints. These teams must be granted executive powers by the national border protection agencies.
Furthermore, to fight illegal migration and visa fraud, the programme calls for more progress on reforming the common visa law by means of a “visa code”.
Germany will also work to improve returns of third-country nationals required to leave the country.
The work programme also proposes encouraging circular migration as an instrument of migration and development policy.
The work programme emphasises that the distinctions between domestic and foreign security are disappearing and that threats are often rooted outside the EU. For this reason, the Member States must work more closely together on foreign relations.
An important aim of the German Presidency is to promote integration and intercultural dialogue in the EU. In order to live together in peace, it is important that all acknowledge and accept shared democratic values.
The ‘The Hague Programme’, shaping European domestic policy, defines the priorities in the field of home affairs until 2009, when it ends. New guidelines will be needed for 2010 and beyond. Germany wants to give input for a new agenda.

Contact info

German Federal Ministry of the Interior
Phone: +49 30 18 6810
poststelle@bmi.bund.de

Publication date

30/01/2007

Article info
Organisation: German Federal Ministry of the Interior

Links

Visit the German EU Presidency website Visit the German Federal Ministry of the Interior website Read more on the Prüm Treaty Read more on the The Hague Programme

Download “Living Europe Safely” (PDF, Eng, 65 KB)

Document type

policy

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords

Security & crime prevention