VZCZCXRO3851
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHBS #1667/01 3451553
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111553Z DEC 09
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001667 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PREF SMIG EUN KCRM KHLS CVIS
CASC, PTER, KJUS, ASEC, KTFN, KFRD 
 
SUBJECT: EU LEADERS ENDORSE "STOCKHOLM PROGRAM" OF 
JHA ACTIVITIES FOR 2010-2014 
 
REF:  USEU BRUSSELS 447 
 
BRUSSELS 00001667  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  EU leaders in the December 10-11 European 
Council adopted a new multi-annual program for EU 
activities related to justice, freedom and 
security (justice and home affairs).  The so- 
called "Stockholm Program" for 2010-2014 tabled by 
the Commission and shaped under the Swedish 
Presidency is intended to provide the reference 
framework for future legal initiatives and other 
measures promoting EU citizenship and fundamental 
rights, fostering cooperation among judicial 
authorities, easing access to justice throughout 
the EU, and strengthening cooperation in law 
enforcement, border management, and disaster 
management.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  EU leaders recognized in the conclusions from 
their European Council meeting that five years 
after the Hague Program, it was "time for the 
Union to review its policy to effectively meet the 
new challenges" in justice and home affairs (JHA). 
Priority for the coming years (2010-2014) "shall 
be to focus on the interests and needs of the 
citizens," the leaders stated.  "The challenge 
will be to ensure respect for fundamental freedoms 
and integrity, while guaranteeing security in 
Europe."  It was "of paramount importance that law 
enforcement measures and measures to safeguard 
individual rights, the rule of law and 
international protection rules are coherent and 
mutually reinforcing." 
 
¶3.  The Stockholm program focuses on the following 
main priorities, listed in the European Council 
document: 
 
Begin text 
 
-- Promoting citizenship and fundamental rights: 
European citizenship must become a tangible 
reality. The area of freedom, security and justice 
must above all be a single area in which 
fundamental rights are protected. Respect for the 
human person and human dignity and for the other 
rights set out in the Charter of Fundamental 
Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights 
are core values. For example, the exercise of 
these freedoms and citizens' privacy must be 
preserved beyond national borders, especially by 
protecting personal data. 
 
-- A Europe of law and justice: The achievement of 
a European area of justice must be consolidated. 
Priority should be given to mechanisms that 
facilitate access to justice, so that people can 
enforce their rights throughout the Union. 
Cooperation between public professionals in the 
area of justice and their training should be 
improved, and resources should be mobilized to 
eliminate barriers to the recognition of legal 
acts in other Member States. 
 
-- Europe that protects: An internal security 
strategy should be developed in order to improve 
security in the Union and thus protect the lives 
and safety of European citizens. It should tackle 
organised crime, terrorism and other threats. The 
strategy should also aim at strengthening 
cooperation in law enforcement, border management, 
civil protection, disaster management as well as 
criminal judicial cooperation. 
 
-- Access to Europe in a globalized world: Access 
to Europe for businessmen, tourists, students, 
scientists, workers, persons in need of 
international protection and others having a 
legitimate interest to access EU territory has to 
be made more efficient. At the same time, the 
Union and its Member States have to guarantee 
security for its citizens. Integrated border 
management and visa policies should be construed 
to serve these goals. 
 
BRUSSELS 00001667  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
-- A Europe of responsibility, solidarity and 
partnership in migration and asylum matters: The 
development of a forward-looking and comprehensive 
European migration policy, based on solidarity and 
responsibility remains a key policy objective. 
Well-managed migration can be beneficial to all 
stakeholders and the EU should work towards 
flexible admission systems and a closer match 
between immigration and the needs of the EU labor 
market. The Global Approach to Migration and the 
European Pact on Immigration and Asylum provides a 
clear basis for further development in this field. 
The objective to establish a common asylum system 
remains and people in need of protection must beenmig`md`@ 
 
EU governments to 
decidQ on asylum requests in countries of origin 
anQ transit (e.g. at EU embassies or consular 
po3ts in North African countries).  Sweden was 
also forced to scale down some of its ambitions onQ 
specific points in the draft, e.g., by conceding 
that one third of police forces and halQ of judges 
already involved in cross-country cooperation may 
benefit from EU training, whereas the initial goal 
was to provide training to 50 percent of law 
enforcement personnel. 
 
¶6.  COMMENT continued.  A key feature of the 
implementation of the Stockholm program will be 
the increased role of the European Parliament (EP) 
in the adoption of new legislative instruments. 
This will apply to areas such as police and 
judicial cooperation for which EU decision-making 
procedures were entirely in the hands of Member 
State governments until the recent entry into 
force of the Treaty of Lisbon.  The EP has been 
calling for tighter mechanisms to ensure the 
protection of personal data, especially when such 
data may be transferred to non-EU countries such 
as the U.S.  The Swedish Presidency ensured that 
specific language appears in the Stockholm Program 
directing the negotiation with the United States 
of a binding agreement on data protection 
principles 
 
MURRAY