PURPOSE: to establish the justice programme for the period 2021-2027.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: the Union is a community of law, and its values constitute the very basis of its existence. These values are enshrined in the EU Treaties, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
To promote common European values and rights, the EU has combined several instruments in a policy mix of legislation, policies and funding. In particular, the following funding programmes have showed a strong societal focus and are clearly related to European values: the rights, equality and citizenship programme, the Europe for citizens programme, and the justice programme.
These programmes have led to real progress in promoting values and implementing the rights that EU legislation grant to people across the Union. However, the fragmented nature and limited resources of current EU funding programmes limits the EU’s capacity to respond to existing and new challenges.
At a time where European societies are confronted with extremism, radicalism and divisions, it is more important than ever to promote, strengthen and defend justice, rights and EU values which are human rights, respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law.
That is why the Commission proposes to create a new justice, rights and values fund, including the rights and values and justice programmes within the EU budget.
CONTENT: the proposed Regulation - presented for a Union of 27 Member States – seeks to establish the justice programme. It lays down the objectives of the programme, the budget for the period 2021- 2027, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding.
This new programme, together with the rights and values programme, will be part of a new justice, rights and values fund of the EU budget that will help to sustain open, democratic, pluralist and inclusive societies.
The programme has the general objective of contributing to the further development of a European area of justice based on the rule of law, on mutual recognition and mutual trust between justice professionals in cross-border proceedings.
The programme has three specific objectives:
In concrete terms, the programme seeks to enhance the effectiveness of legislation by increasing knowledge, awareness and capacity of citizens, professionals and stakeholders, through supporting:
information and public awareness raising, including support for national and European campaigns to inform people of their rights, as guaranteed under Union law, and how to enforce them in practice;
training and capacity building for legal professionals in order to equip them with the tools to effectively put Union rights and policies into practice;
cooperation at transnational level and developing mutual trust, through strengthening networks, i.e. Union-wide organisations to assist with the preparation of future initiatives in this area, as well as to promote their consistent implementation across Europe and cross-border cooperation on enforcement, for example establishing missing child alert systems, coordination of operational and cross-border anti-drug cooperation.
The Commission shall ensure the European added value of all actions and activities carried out under the programme, their complementarity with Member States' activities and their compatibility with other Union activities. It shall set establish annually the funding priorities in the respective policy areas. Participation is open to all legal entities legally established in a Member State or in a participating non EU country, with no further restrictions on access to the programme.
Proposed budget: the programme shall have an overall budget of EUR 305 million for the period 2021-2027.