The EU’s New Justice and Home Affairs Programme: An Opportunity to Restore the Foundations

The financial crisis and economic recession, as well as related social conflicts, have thrown into question key principles underpinning EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA), not least mutual trust and solidarity. The bloc now faces persistent attempts to reverse its most important achievements in the area of intra-EU mobility and equal treatment of EU citizens, jeopardizing the core values and principles of the Treaty. With a new five-year JHA programme underway, the EU should provide all stakeholders with a clear scenario for restoring common understanding of the foundations of JHA, including freedom of movement. One rationale for this would be to point to the foreign policy context facing the Union.