Download Justice and home affairs

European policies
The EU is active in a wide range of topics, from human rights to transport and trade
• Agriculture
• Audiovisual and media
• Budget
• Climate action
• Competition
• Consumers
• Culture
• Customs
• Development and Cooperation
• Digital economy & society
• Economic and monetary affairs
• Education, training and youth
• Employment and social affairs
• Energy
• Enlargement
• Enterprise
• Environment
• EU citizenship
• Food safety
• Foreign and security policy
• Fraud prevention
• Health
• Humanitarian aid and Civil Protection
• Human rights
• Institutional affairs
• Justice and Home Affairs
• Maritime affairs and fisheries
• Multilingualism
• Regional policy
• Research and innovation
• Single market
• Space
• Sport
• Taxation
• Trade
• Transport
Climate action
To keep climate change below dangerous levels, the international community agrees that the average
global temperature must not rise more than 2°C above the pre-industrial temperature. The EU is
therefore working hard to:
•cut its member countries' emissions
•encourage other major polluters to take strong action
•address the unavoidable impacts of a changing climate.
Targets drive green growth
Tackling climate change now can save human and economic costs in the longer term. Growing demand
for clean technologies also offers opportunities to modernise Europe's economy, creating 'green' growth
and jobs.
For 2020 the EU has set itself binding climate and energy designed to:
•cut EU greenhouse gas emissions to at least 20% below 1990 levels
•increase to 20% the share of EU energy consumption coming from renewable sources
•improve energy efficiency to reduce the amount of primary energy used by 20% compared with
projected levels.
The EU has offered to scale up its emissions cut from 20% to 30% by 2020 if other major economies
commit themselves to taking their fair share of global reduction efforts.
EU leaders agreed in October 2014 on new climate and energy targets for 2030. They include:
• 40% cuts (at least) in greenhouse emissions compared to 1990 levels
• 27% - minimum share of renewable energy
• 27% - minimum improvement in energy efficiency.
In the longer term, much deeper cuts in world emissions will be needed to prevent dangerous climate
change. The EU is committed to reducing its emissions by 80-95% of 1990 levels by 2050 as part of a
collective effort by developed countries to do likewise.
The European Commission describes the most cost-effective ways of achieving reductions on this scale in
its 'Roadmap for a low-carbon economy in 2050'.
Emissions trading: reducing emissions at least cost
The Emissions Trading Scheme - the cornerstone of the EU’s climate change strategy since 2005 - is
gradually bringing down emissions from industry at least cost.
The cap on emissions from energy-intensive industries (e.g. power generation, steel, cement) is lowered
annually. Companies surrender allowances for each tonne of CO2 they emit - a permanent incentive to
minimise emissions. There are sectors that receive some allowances free of charge, but increasingly firms
must buy them at auction or on the carbon market.
Preparing for unavoidable climate change
Even if all emissions stopped today, those already in the atmosphere would continue changing the
climate for decades to come. We have no choice but to adapt to climate change. The action needed
includes:
•modifying building regulations to take account of future climate conditions
•building flood defences
•developing drought-tolerant crops.
The Commission has set out a strategy to promote and facilitate adaptation across the EU.
Competition
The EU's rules on competition are designed to ensure fair and equal conditions for businesses, while
leaving space for innovation, unified standards, and the development of small businesses.
Under EU rules, businesses cannot:
• fix prices or carve up markets amongst themselves
• abuse a dominant position in a particular market to squeeze out smaller competitors
• merge –if doing so would put them in a position to control the market.
In practice this rule only prevents a small number of mergers going ahead. Larger companies that do a lot
of business in the EU cannot merge without prior approval from the European Commission – even if they
are based outside the EU.
Protection for small firms
Large firms are barred from using their bargaining power to impose conditions that would make it
difficult for their suppliers or customers to do business with their competitors. The Commission can (and
does) fine companies for this practice, because it leads to higher prices and/or less choice for consumers.
EU investigations into anti-competitive practices cover not only goods but also professions (doctors,
lawyers, etc.) and services – including financial services, such as retail banking and credit cards.
No props for lame duck companies
The Commission also monitors how much assistance EU governments give to businesses (‘state aid’), for
example:
•loans and grants
•tax breaks
•goods and services provided at preferential rates
•government guarantees which enhance the credit rating of a company compared to its competitors.
The risk with such assistance is that it may favour well-connected vested interests, at the expense of
those who compete on their own merits – with the bill footed by the taxpayer. Reining in such
undeserved subsidies is a cheap and effective way to make Europe fairer and promote economic growth.
Flexible rules
These rules are applied with common sense and flexibility. The main consideration is whether consumers
will benefit or other businesses will be harmed. For example, governments are allowed to help firms in
difficulty – or new ventures – if they have a real chance of eventually being profitable, and so saving,
even creating, jobs. What is not allowed is help for ailing businesses that have no hope of being viable.
Other exceptions to the general rules include:
•companies working together on a single technical standard for the market as a whole
•smaller companies cooperating, so they can compete better with larger ones
•research and innovation initiatives
•regional development projects
Recent cases
In 2014, the Commission fined French pharmaceutical company Servier and 5 other producers of generic
medicines almost €430 million for concluding a series of deals to protect Servier's bestselling blood
pressure medicine, perindopril, from price competition from other generics in the EU.
The Commission has also investigated cartels in the market for financial derivatives, priced by reference
to certain benchmark rates (EURIBOR (EIRD), JPY Libor, Euroyen TIBOR (YIRD) and Swiss franc Libor
(CHIRD)).
It has taken several decisions in these cases over the past few years, against banks such as Barclays,
Deutsche Bank, RBS, Société Générale, UBS, Citigroup and JPMorgan. Fines totalled about €1.8 billion
(some banks had their fines reduced for cooperating with the investigation and agreeing to settle).
Checks and balances
The Commission's extensive powers to investigate and halt violations of EU competition rules are subject
to a number of internal checks and balances, as well as full judicial review by the European Courts.
Companies and EU governments regularly lodge appeals against Commission decisions, which are
sometimes successful.
ENVIRONMENT
The EU has some of the world's highest environmental standards. Environment policy helps green the EU
economy, protect nature, and safeguard the health and quality of life of people living in the EU.
Green growth
Protecting the environment and maintaining a competitive EU presence on the global market can go
hand in hand, and environment policy can play a key role in creating jobs and stimulating investment.
'Green growth' entails developing integrated policies that promote a sustainable environmental
framework. Environmental innovations can be implemented and exported, making Europe more
competitive and improving people's quality of life. Fairness is paramount in all this.
Protecting nature
Nature is our life support system, so we need to look after it. We share resources like water, air, natural
habitats and the species they support, and we also share environmental standards to protect them.
Europe is working to safeguard these natural resources and halt the decline of endangered species and
habitats. Natura 2000 is a network of 26,000 protected natural areas, covering almost 20% of the EU's
land mass, where sustainable human activities can coexist with rare and vulnerable species and habitats.
Safeguarding the health and wellbeing of people living in the EU
Water, air pollution and chemicals are among people's top environmental concerns. To safeguard people
from environment-related pressures and risks to health and wellbeing, EU policy aims to:
•guarantee safe drinking and bathing water
•improve air quality and reduce noise
•reduce or eliminate the effects of harmful chemicals.
Global challenges
As the world population continues to expand, with ever-greater numbers of city-dwellers, global
environmental challenges become more pressing. More action is needed to ensure that
•air, oceans and other water resources are kept clean
•land and ecosystems are used sustainably
•climate change is kept to manageable levels.
As a global actor, the EU plays a key role in international efforts to promote sustainable development
globally.
Current EU policy up to 2020 is based on the 7th Environment Action Programme – the dual responsibility
of the EU institutions
Justice and home affairs
Within the EU, citizens have a right to live in any EU country. Borders can be crossed almost without
noticing since the Schengen Agreement abolished checks at the EU's internal borders (with the exception
of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom).
The EU also works to protect citizens from international crime and terrorism, and to ensure your access
to the local justice system and respect for your fundamental rights wherever you are in the EU. Access to
an effective justice system is an essential right, one of the founding principles of European democracies.
Guaranteeing fundamental rights
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights sets out all the personal, civil, political, economic and social rights
flowing from EU citizenship. Its Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) helps policymakers to pass new laws
and works to raise public awareness of fundamental rights.
The EU acts on behalf of EU citizens to prevent discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin,
religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. In the age of ubiquitous internet, the EU fights for
everyone's right to the have their personal data protected.
Cooperation between judicial authorities
When you travel within the EU, you are entitled to unrestricted access to the legal system of the country
you are in. This also means that criminals cannot escape the consequences of their crime by crossing a
border.
Cooperation has intensified between national judicial authorities to ensure that legal decisions taken in
one EU country are recognised and implemented in any other. This is especially important in civil cases
such as divorce, child custody, maintenance claims or even bankruptcy and unpaid bills, when the
individuals involved live in different countries.
To help in the fight against serious crimes such as corruption, drug trafficking and distribution and
terrorism, the EU has established the European Judicial Network.
The European arrest warrant has replaced lengthy extradition procedures, so that suspected or convicted
criminals who have fled abroad can be swiftly returned to the country where they were tried, or are due
to be tried.
Asylum and immigration
Common minimum standards and procedures for asylum seekers are intended to guarantee a high level
of protection for those who need it, while ensuring that national asylum systems are not abused. For
example, they determine how and where applications should be processed, the standards for receiving
asylum applicants, the status of people granted asylum and the role of national authorities in meeting
these responsibilities.
EU countries are also working to develop a coherent EU immigration policy that takes advantage of the
opportunities offered by legal immigration, while tackling the challenges of irregular immigration. The
aim is to take account of the priorities and needs of each EU country and encourage the integration of
non-EU nationals into their host societies.
The EU is also striving to create partnerships with the countries of origin and of transit in order to better
organise legal immigration and curb irregular immigration, to improve the link between migration and
development, as well as to strengthen the rule of law and promote respect for fundamental rights in
these countries.
For people to have freedom to move throughout the EU, there must be effective controls at all points of
entry into the EU. EU countries are working together to improve security through better external border
controls, while making it easier for those with a right to enter the EU to do so. Operational cooperation
between EU countries is managed by the EU external borders agency FRONTEX.
EU security strategy
EU home affairs policies focus on the fight against terrorism and organised crime, cybercrime and violent
radicalisation, particularly by targeting illicit firearms trafficking, the trafficking of human beings and the
sexual exploitation of children.
The EU's internal security strategy sets out to improve internal security through cooperation on law
enforcement, border management, civil protection and disaster management.
The strategy includes legislation and practical ways to stop organised criminals – drug barons, human
traffickers, money launderers, terrorists – from exploiting the freedoms the EU brings and to improve
cooperation between national police forces, especially within the framework of the European Police
Office (Europol).
One market without borders
In the EU’s single market (sometimes also called the internal market) people , goods , services , and
money can move around the EU as freely as within a single country. Mutual recognition plays a central
role in getting rid of barriers to trade.
EU citizens can study, live, shop, work and retire in any EU country - and enjoy products from all over
Europe.
No more national barriers
To create this single market, hundreds of technical, legal and bureaucratic barriers to free trade and free
movement between the EU’s member countries have been abolished.
As a result, companies have expanded their operations. The competition has brought prices down and
given consumers more choice:
•Phone calls in Europe cost a fraction of what they did 10 years ago
•Many air fares have fallen significantly and new routes have opened up.
•Many homes and businesses can now choose their electricity and gas suppliers.
At the same time, with the help of Europe’s various competition and regulatory authorities, the EU works
to ensure that these greater freedoms don’t undermine fairness, consumer protection or environmental
sustainability.
A huge business opportunity
European businesses selling in the EU have unrestricted access to nearly 500 million consumers, helping
them to stay competitive. The single market is also attractive to foreign investors.
Economic integration can also be a great advantage in times of recession, allowing EU countries to
continue trading with one another, rather than resorting to protectionist measures that would worsen
the crisis.
Some barriers remain
Many obstacles remain, however, in areas where integration is taking longer:
•fragmented national tax systems impede market integration and undermine efficiency
• separate national markets still exist for financial services, energy and transport
• e-commerce between EU countries has been slower to take off than at national level, and rules,
standards and practices vary considerably
•the services sector is lagging behind the goods markets (although it has been possible since 2006 for
companies to offer a range of services abroad from their home base)
•rules on the recognition of vocational qualifications need to be simplified to make it easier for qualified
workers to find a job in another EU country.
The financial services market is a special case. The EU is seeking to build a strong, secure financial sector
— while avoiding a repeat of the 2009 crisis — by supervising financial institutions, regulating complex
financial products and requiring banks to hold more capital. The creation of the banking union
transferred the mechanisms for bank supervision and resolution from national to EU level in several
member countries. There are also plans to set up an EU-wide capital markets union to:
•reduce fragmentation in financial markets
•diversify sources of finance
•strengthen flows of capital between EU countries
•improve access to finance for businesses, particularly small and medium-sized companies.
External border checks
EU citizens do not need a passport to travel within the Schengen areas, which currently comprises 26
countries:
•all EU countries except Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania & the UK
•Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway & Switzerland
Although Schengen countries no longer carry out checks at internal borders, they have stepped up checks
on the EU's external borders.
To ensure safety in the Schengen area, these countries have also increased police cooperation, in
particular through hot pursuit and continued surveillance of suspects moving between countries. The
Schengen Information System allows the police and customs and national border control authorities to
circulate alerts about wanted or missing people or stolen vehicles and documents.
Fraud prevention
Cigarette smuggling... counterfeiting of euro coins... evasion of import duties on shoes and clothes...
subsidies for growing oranges on farms that don't exist — all are examples of fraud that cost European
taxpayers money.
The main EU body for combating these activities is the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
Report suspected fraud to OLAF
What does OLAF do?
• investigate fraud, corruption and other illegal activities
•detect and investigate serious misconduct by EU staff
•help the European Commission formulate & implement policies to prevent and detect fraud.
Investigations
1.Investigations can involve interviews and inspection of premises - including outside the EU. OLAF also
coordinates inspections by national anti-fraud agencies.
2.After an investigation, OLAF then recommends action to the EU institutions and national governments
concerned: criminal investigations, prosecution, financial recoveries or other disciplinary measures.
3.OLAF also monitors how these recommendations are implemented.
Customs operations
National customs authorities, both inside and outside the EU, carry out regular joint operations with
OLAF (and other EU agencies) to stop smuggling and fraud in certain high-risk areas and on identified
routes.
One example was in October 2014, when over 1.2 million counterfeit goods and 130 million cigarettes
were seized in an international customs operation. The operation, code-named REPLICA, targeted the
import of counterfeit goods including cigarettes, perfumes, car and bicycle spare parts, toys, fashion
accessories and electric devices by sea.
Key issues
Cigarette smuggling
Avoidance of excise and customs duties on cigarettes - generally by smuggling - is one of the major types
of fraud in the EU. OLAF receives notifications from its partner agencies about suspicious movements of
cargo vessels and cross-checks national intelligence to produce insights into smuggling methods.
For example, over the period 2012-14, joint OLAF operations tracking vessels with national agencies led
to the seizure of:
•9 ships containing some 215 million cigarettes (evading duties worth €43m).
•containers holding 93 million cigarettes (evading duties worth €15m).
Fake euros
Counterfeiting of the euro has caused financial damage of at least €500m since the currency was
introduced in 2002.
The EU tackles this through:
• legislation - to coordinate action by national authorities, to maintain the correct authentication
measures for coins and banknotes, and ensure adequate penalties for counterfeiters under national law.
• training – funded through the Pericles programme, for national agencies, banks, law enforcement,
judicial authorities and others involved in combating euro counterfeiting - both in the EU and outside.
• analysis of counterfeit coins by the European Technical & Scientific Centre (most commonly the €2
coin).
• joint action – through meetings of experts from national agencies.
More concerted EU action?
Action to combat fraud in the EU is still hampered by differences in rules and practices in member
countries - which results in differing degrees of protection for public moneypdf .
To address these issues, the EU is currently debating a new Directive to protect EU financial interests
through criminal lawpdf , which would further align the definitions of offences and penalties.
This directive would provide the legal basis for the operation of the proposed European Public
Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), which is currently being discussed by EU governments.
If established, the EPPO should improve the investigation and prosecution of offences affecting the EU
budget. The idea is to provide EU-wide enforcement - given the complexity of many types of large-scale
fraud, which often involve more than a single country and so go beyond national jurisdiction.
Agriculture
EU farm policy – the common agricultural policy – serves many purposes:
•helps farmers produce sufficient quantities of food for Europe
•ensures this food is safe (for example through traceability)
•protects farmers from excessive price volatility and market crises
•helps them invest in modernising their farms
•sustains viable rural communities, with diverse economies
•creates and maintains jobs in the food industry
•protects the environment & animal welfare.
Changes in farm policy
EU farm policy has evolved considerably in recent decades to help farmers face new challenges and also
in response to changing public attitudes. Successive reforms mean that farmers now base their
production decisions on market demand, rather on decisions taken in Brussels.
The most recent reforms, in 2013, shifted the focus towards:
•greener farming practices
•research and the spread of knowledge
•a fairer support system for farmers
•a stronger position for farmers in the food chain.
Other important aspects are:
•helping consumers make informed choices about their food, through EU quality-labelling schemes.
These labels – indicating geographical origin and the use of traditional ingredients or methods (including
organic farming) – also help make EU farm products competitive on world markets
•promoting innovation in farming & food processing (aided by EU research projects) to increase
productivity and reduce environmental impacts, e.g. using crop by-products and waste products to
produce energy
•encouraging fair trade relations with developing countries – by suspending export subsidies for farm
products and making it easier for developing countries to export their products to the EU.
Future challenges
World food production needs to double by 2050 to cater for population growth and wealthier consumers
eating more animal products – at the same time as dealing with the impact of climate change (loss of
biodiversity, deteriorating soil and water quality).
Our policy is to give farmers advice on investment and innovation, to help them with this task.
Funding European farming
Agriculture is one area of policy where EU governments have agreed to fully pool responsibility – along
with the necessary public funding. So instead of policy and financial support being directed by each
individual country, they are the responsibility of the EU as a whole.
As a share of the EU budget, farm spending has dropped sharply from its peak in the 1970s of nearly 70%
to around 38% today. This reflects both an expansion of the EU's other responsibilities and cost savings
from reforms. Since 2004, for example, the EU has welcomed 13 new member countries without any
increase in farm spending.