The Area of Freedom, Security and Justice is a precondition for the functioning of the single market in Europe. Any menace of the market will directly jeopardize the quality of life of European citizens. Providing security and safety is not exclusively a responsibility for nations any more. Fighting typical сross-border crime requires an international approach in which member states of the EU must work together. Therefore the European dimension in policing should have a sound position in national police training programmes. This article makes a case, based on four separate arguments, for adhering a more prominent position in higher European police education to the policy-making process and content of the Stockholm Programme. As has become apparent from learning activities from the European Police College (CEPOL) and the Association of European Police Colleges (AEPC), the Stockholm programme offers an excellent learning tool because of the several concrete examples which allow a deepening of our understanding of police and judicial co-operation. In particular the Stockholm programme offers excellent opportunities to explore and to get familiar to the principle of availability, the principal of mutual recognition, the principle of subsidiarity related to the international dimension and finally the importance of human rights in the security policy.
The introduction of The Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009 changed the rules of EU Presidency, especially those related to the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. In the area of police cooperation, there have been changes in the process of creating EU laws and the approach to initiating cooperation in particular fields. After analysing experiences of three member state countries presiding EU in the new system (Spain, Belgium, Hungary), the author notices that the factors which change the approach to presiding the EU Council in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice are particularly: changed presidency formula after the Lisbon Treaty, changed legislative procedures – that is prolonged time of creating EU laws, and the specific character of international cooperation in the area of internal security. The revised presidency formula makes the success of the member state holding the presidency of the EU Council in a given half-year mainly depend on administrative capacity. Diplomatic and political skills, though important, no longer play the leading role. Accordingly, the countries holding the presidency focus on the proper administration of the EU Council bodies and EU agencies, the cooperation with the EU institutions, and the continuation of projects initiated by the previous presidencies. The type and nature of post-Lisbon adopted EU acts, i.e. mainly non-binding documents, indicate that member states have not yet adapted to using co-decision procedures in the area of police cooperation. They may also be not sufficiently determined to further strengthen cooperation in the field of internal security.
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