The present collection of essays offers the reader a broad range of original perspectives on democracy and the rule of law in the European Union, approaching the existing policy area from new points of view. Leading experts from different countries and backgrounds focus on how democracy and the rule of law are related to topics like security, pension rights, judicial cooperation and human rights protection. Their expert views are based on a combination of theory and knowledge acquired in their practice as academics or practitioners in the field of European integration.. The issue of the rule of law and democracy is close to the heart of Professor Jaap de Zwaan, a true European, building bridges between countries and peoples. He has written extensively on the subject of European integration. Therefore, this collection of expert views is not only an original and valuable contribution to the literature and discussion on the development and enlargement of the European Union, but at the same time it is a tribute to Jaap de Zwaan, whose academic and diplomatic career can be characterized as always serving "an ever closer Union". Flora Goudappel is Jean Monnet Professor of EU Trade Law in the Overseas Territories at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and a consultant on European Union law Ernst Hirsch Ballin is Professor of Dutch and European Constitutional Law at Tilburg University and Professor of Human Rights Law at the University of Amsterdam.

This book is based on a conference on the future of the European asylum policy at Erasmus School of Law in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. After a challenge set by the Dutch State Secretary for Justice, Ms Nebahat Albayrak, the contributions to this book focus on human rights aspects of the European asylum policy and the way the EU Member States need to cooperate in the future in order to reach results. The authors are scholars, policy makers and representatives of NGOs. In this way, many different aspects of the problems are put forward. In the introduction and the conclusion the editors evaluate the results of this broad cooperation. Valuable for academics, practitioners, policymakers and NGO's involved with European asylum policy issues.

This book is based on a conference on the future of the European asylum policy at Erasmus School of Law in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. After a challenge set by the Dutch State Secretary for Justice, Ms Nebahat Albayrak, the contributions to this book focus on human rights aspects of the European asylum policy and the way the EU Member States need to cooperate in the future in order to reach results. The authors are scholars, policy makers and representatives of NGOs. In this way, many different aspects of the problems are put forward. In the introduction and the conclusion the editors evaluate the results of this broad cooperation. Valuable for academics, practitioners, policymakers and NGO's involved with European asylum policy issues.

WhenJusticeandHomeAffairscooperationwasofficiallyintroducedintheEu- peanlegal orderby theTreaty ofMaastricht, severalnewpolicy fields slowly enteredEuropeanlaw: asylumandimmigrationlaw, criminallaw, policestudies. SincetheTreatyofAmsterdamthisnewpolicyareaisreferredtoastheAreaof Freedom, SecurityandJustice. Ithasbeendividedintotwomainsubjects: b- ders, visa, asylumandimmigration, andcivillawinthefirstpillar;andpoliceand judicialcooperationinthethirdpillar. Importantelementsarecommoncontrolsattheexternalbordersfollowingthe abolishmentofinternalcontrols. Asaconsequenceofthecompletionoftheint- nalmarketacommonvisa, asylumandimmigrationpolicyhasbeenputinplace. PolicecooperationbetweennationalauthoritiesandinthecontextofEuropolisan importanttoolforguaranteeingadequatesecurityconditionsforcitizensofthe MemberStates. Criminallawcooperationisnecessarytocombatcrime. ThroughtheTampereProgrammeof1999, theAreawasdevelopedatare- tivelyhighspeed. Eventssuchas11September2001and11March2004have illustratedtheneedandurgencyforclosecooperationincriminallawthroughout Europe, notleasttocombatterrorism. InNovember2004, theEuropeanCouncil launchedthefollow-upprogrammeof'Tampere' theHagueProgramme, along withadetailedActionPlaninJune2005. ThedepartmentofEuropeanLawoftheLawSchoolofErasmusUniversity RotterdamhasfromthebeginningtakentheAreaofFreedom, SecurityandJ- ticeasoneofthefocalpointsofitsresearch. Oneoftheachievementswasthe publicationofahandbookbyDeZwaanandBultena: RuimtevanVrijheid, Veil- heidenRechtvaardigheid AreaofFreedom, SecurityandJustice], in2002. A specialcourseforstudentsofcriminologyandDutchlawistaughtattheLaw Schoolaswell, andthesubjectispartoftheresearchintheResearchSchoolfor SafetyandSecurityinSocialIssues(OnderzoeksschoolMaatschappelijkeVeil- heid). InviewofthisfocusontheAreaofFreedom, SecurityandJustice, andinview ofthepotentiallyfar-reachinginfluenceoftheHagueProgrammefortheEu- peancitizens, thedepartmentofEuropeanLaworganizedatwodaysinternational conferenceon23and24June2005inRotterdam, withover120participantsfrom alloverEurope. Prominentspeakersfrompolitics(EuropeanCommissionerFr- tini, DutchMinisterofJusticeDonner), thecivilservice(fromtheEuropeanC- mission, fromtheCouncil, andfromnationalministries), nongovernmentalor- nizations, and from the academic world (speakers from Turkey, the UK, and Germany for instance) discussed the new developments from many different angles. VIII Thisbookrepresentsthereflectionoftheconference: manyspeakersandp- ticipantscooperatedtoproducethisfirstevaluationoftheHagueProgramme. In viewofitsdifferentcharacteronlycivillawcooperationisnotcoveredinthis publication. WewouldliketothankLauraSchepersfortakingcareofallthedetailsinthe texts, andPeterMorrisforfine-tuningthelanguage. Wecouldnothaveorganized theconferencewithoutthehelpofNathalieWeberandAnnetSchuurmanofour conferencebureau. Rotterdam, May2006 JaapdeZwaan FloraGoudappel IX TableofContents Summaryofcontents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII Listofabbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XV Introductoryspeeches Piet-HeinDonner TheHagueProgramme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 FrancoFrattini TheHagueProgramme: ourfutureinvestmentindemocraticstabilityand democraticsecurity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .