Today the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement on the 2021-2027 Justice programme proposed by the European Commission in May 2018. This new programme will support developing an integrated European justice area based on the rule of law, mutual recognition and mutual trust.
Věra Jourová,Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality said: “I welcome today’s agreement on this important programme. Too many people across Europe don’t trust in our justice systems or complain about its quality. We want to invest where our priorities lie: supporting judges and prosecutors, promoting the use of technology and ultimately improving the trust of citizens in their justice systems and fostering trust between Member States.”
The Justice programme with a budget of € 305,000,000 will fund activities such as:
- Raising awareness and training of judges, prosecutors and other practitioners to improve their knowledge of Union policies, of judicial cooperation instruments and of the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union;
- Promoting exchanges of good practices among stakeholders, including public authorities, research institutes, legal practitioners and NGOs, to improve mutual understanding of the civil and criminal law and the legal and judicial systems in Member States, including the rule of law;
- Developing the use of technology in the justice system to improve its efficiency, facilitate cooperation and the cross-border interoperability of systems and applications;
- Developing the capacity of European level networks and European judicial networks, as well as supporting civil society organisations to be active in the areas covered by the Programme;
- Organising monitoring activities to improve the knowledge and to understand potential obstacles to the smooth functioning of a European area of justice.
Next steps
This provisional agreement now has to be formally approved by both the European Parliament and the Council. The budgetary aspects are subject to the overall agreement on the EU’s next long-term budget, proposed by the Commission in May 2018.
Background
The new Justice programme builds on the current Justice programme (2014-2020). Since 2014, the Justice Programme has contributed to upholding and promoting the Union’s common values and to creating an area of freedom, security and justice. It has been an important tool to support the changes brought about in this area by the Lisbon Treaty.
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