The European Union has set up a number of decentralised agencies to carry out specific legal, technical or scientific tasks within the European Union. The EU regulatory agencies are independent, and have their own legal personality. They provide added value by facilitating the implementation of policies, enhancing dialogue and helping to share information and expertise. EU agencies also provide practical support to Member States and the EU institutions. In the area of justice and home affairs (JHA) there are currently the following agencies: European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex); European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (EU-LISA); European Asylum Support Office (EASO); European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE); European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA); European Police College (CEPOL); European Police Office (Europol); European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA); and the European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust). The EU JHA agencies are spread across different Member States. The JHA agencies established a network, in 2006, to foster bilateral and multilateral cooperation and synergies in areas of common interest, such as strategic and operational work, external relations or training. As from 1 January 2014, EASO took over the Chair of the network. In this context, EASO decided to coordinate this publication in the form of a brochure to enhance public knowledge on the work of these agencies. This brochure gives an overview of the missions and tasks of all the EU justice and home affairs agencies. It also provides other practical information such as contact details.

This book examines the role of agencies and agency-like bodies in the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ).When the Maastricht Treaty entered into force on 1 November 1993, the institutional landscape of the so-called ‘Third Pillar’ looked significantly different than it does now. Aside from Europol, which existed only on paper at that time, the European agencies examined in this book were mere ideas in the heads of federalist dreamers or were not even contemplated. Eventually, Europol slowly emerged from its embryonic European Drugs Unit and became operational in 1999. Around the same time, the European Union (EU) unveiled plans in its Tampere Programme for a more extensive legal and institutional infrastructure for internal security policies. Since then, as evidenced by the chapters presented in this book, numerous policy developments have taken place. Indeed, the agencies now operating in the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) are remarkable in the burgeoning scope of their activities, as well as their gradually increasing autonomy vis-à-vis the EU member states and the institutions that brought them to life. This book was published as a special issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society.

The European Union has set up a number of decentralised agencies to carry out specific legal, technical or scientific tasks within the European Union. The EU regulatory agencies are independent, and have their own legal personality. They provide added value by facilitating the implementation of policies, enhancing dialogue and helping to share information and expertise. EU agencies also provide practical support to Member States and the EU institutions. In the area of justice and home affairs (JHA) there are currently the following agencies: European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex); European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (EU-LISA); European Asylum Support Office (EASO); European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE); European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA); European Police College (CEPOL); European Police Office (Europol); European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA); and the European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust). The EU JHA agencies are spread across different Member States. The JHA agencies established a network, in 2006, to foster bilateral and multilateral cooperation and synergies in areas of common interest, such as strategic and operational work, external relations or training. As from 1 January 2014, EASO took over the Chair of the network. In this context, EASO decided to coordinate this publication in the form of a brochure to enhance public knowledge on the work of these agencies. This brochure gives an overview of the missions and tasks of all the EU justice and home affairs agencies. It also provides other practical information such as contact details.

The EU plays an increasingly important role in issues such as the fight against organised crime and the management of migration flows, transforming the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) into a priority of the EU’s political and legislative agenda. This book investigates whether institutional change - the gradual communitarisation of the AFSJ - has triggered policy change, and in doing so, explores the nature and direction of this policy change. By analysing the role of the EU’s institutions in a systematic, theory-informed and comparative way, it provides rich insights into the dynamics of EU decision-making in areas involving high stakes for human rights and civil liberties. Each chapter contains three sections examining: the degree of policy change in the different AFSJ fields, ranging from immigration and counter-terrorism to data protection the role of EU institutions in this process of change a case study determining the mechanisms of change. The book will be of interest to practitioners, students and scholars of European politics and law, EU policy-making, security and migration studies, as well as institutional change.

This book offers an insight into the historical, institutional and topical development of the EU policy in the areas of justice, home affairs and security, well-embedded in a broader international context. The main part of the book, dedicated to the EU, is therefore preceded by a part on relevant cooperation on the Benelux and Schengen levels and followed by a part on cooperation in the areas concerned on Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE, G8, OECD and UN levels. Without a proper understanding of those cooperation levels, the development and functioning of the EU would be hard to fully grasp. Before addressing the actual policy dimension, all parts start with a historical introduction and a sketch of institutional structures and functioning. For students and professionals in criminology, law and political science, and every one interested in European and international criminal policy making this book will prove relevant or insightful.

Review of the Stockholm Programme (2010-2014) and recommendations for the successor JHA programme.