MOOC Massive Open Online Courses (Academic Year 2021/2022)

In order to be better prepared for this module, it is necessary that students are well aware of the concepts and topics dealt by the modules on “History and Institutions of the European Union” and “Political and legal system of the European Union”. The understanding of the main acts adopted in the AFSJ and its related policies (Visa, Asylum, Immigration, Police and Judicial Co-operation in criminal matters) presupposes indeed a full understanding of the institutional and political framework before and after the Lisbon Reform.

The aim of the module is to provide students with an exhaustive framework on the AFSJ, considering its origins and the further steps. At the end of the training process, students will be able to not only understand the actual functioning of the AFSJ, but also to evaluate and interpret consciously the future scenarios.

The module can be organized around four sections strictly linked with each other.
The aim of the first one (lessons 1 to 3) is to introduce students to the topic. (Lesson 1) In order to better understand the meaning of the European Area of Freedom Security and Justice (AFSJ), reference is made to the evolution of these notions at national and international level in modern times. Special focus is also given to the European legal order which progressively arised after the second world war within the Council of Europe and the European Communities legal framework. A true supranational dimension of European policies has existed, however, only since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. (Lesson 2) This supranational dimension has been progressively built on mutual trust between the Member States and the EU institutions. Since 1975 (Trevi Group) 1985 (Schengen Convention) 1990 (Dublin Convention) public security policies have been developed in a cross-border dimension and progressively integrated in the European Union legal framework by the Maastricht (1993) and Amsterdam (1997) Treaties. The European integration in these domains is more and more apparent at strategic, legislative and operational level. European Agencies (EUROPOL, EUROJUST, FRONTEX..) and networks (SIS, VIS, EURODAC) have been created. The original intergovernemental dimension will be overcome even for judicial and police cooperation in criminal matters on December 2014. (Lesson 3) European cooperation is particularly important for criminal law where new common standards are progressively being established. In the post-Lisbon phase an European "model" could progressively take shape.

The second section (lessons 4 to 9) is completely focused on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. (Lesson 4) In order to better understand what is currently happening in this area and what will happen in the future, an important step is to understand the origins of this cooperation and its developments. The Treaty of Amsterdam constituted the real revolution and for this reason it is analyzed more in detail, including the procedure to adopt the legal instruments. (Lesson 5) The differences between the Council of Europe and the EU system are took into consideration, underlining that the former has made a lot of conventions in criminal matters since the Fifties, whereas the latter has adopted more recently its main measures. (Lessons 6 and 7) The instruments at the basis of the judicial cooperation are the mutual recognition and the harmonization. Each of them is analyzed, providing also some examples of implementing acts (such as Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant and the directives on procedural rights). The main actors (Eurojust, the EPPO, the European Judicial Network) and their competences are examined. (Lesson 8) Police cooperation inside the EU is different than judicial cooperation, as it includes fewer legal instruments and less formalism. However nine legal acts are adopted by the EU institutions and the competences of the main actor, Europol, are progressively developed. (Lesson 9) Iorder to better understand the Lisbon Reform, it is important to know the previous programs that had the aim to strengthening the AFSJ in the EU (such as the Hague Program and the Stockholm Program), but also the Draft of the European Constitution.

The third section (lessons 10 to 12) concerns respectively: (lesson 10) visa policy and external borders control, (lesson 11) legal migration, (lesson 12) asylum policy. In particular, Lesson 10 refers not only to the types of visa, but also to the procedure to obtain a short term visa and the aim of the Visa Information System. The fight to illegal immigration, the entry conditions, the Schengen Border Code, the Schengen Information System and the role of the EU Agency Frontex are also examined. (Lesson 11) Migration can be also legal. The different types of migration flows (family migration, economic migration,students) and the integration of third-country nationals are specifically explained. (Lesson 12) There are also special categories of third-country nationals that are not included in the types of legal or illegal migration, such as people who are forced to leave their country, asking for protection in another country. The Asylum System is analysed in details, including the main acts adopted.
Finally, the fourth section (lesson 13) is dedicated to the cross topic privacy and data protection (…..).
In order to better understand the topics developed in the lessons, we suggest to read not only the acts (directives, regulations, framework decisions, conventions, programs, Treaties) specifically mentioned by the professors and indicated in the bibliographies, but also some books and articles included in the bibliographies too.

Development of an EU Criminal Justice Area (2009), Study conducted for the European Parliament PE 419.604 by Nadja Long, Lecturer, European Centre for Judges and Lawyers, European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), Luxembourg, accessible (FREE)

Emilio De Capitani, The democratic accountability of the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice ten years on.

Emilio De Capitani, The Evolving Role of the European Parliament in the AFSJ, in J. Monar (edited by), The Institutional Dimension of the European Union’s Area of Freedom,Security and Justice, Bruxelles, 2010

Hans G. Nilsson, The Council in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, in J. Monar (edited by), The Institutional Dimension of the European Union’s Area of Freedom , Security and Justice, Bruxelles, 2010

Elspeth Guild, Sergio Carrera, The European Union’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice ten years on

Philippe De Bruycker, Marie-Claire Foblets, Marleen Maes, (edited by) External Dimensions of European Migration and Asylum Law and Policy / Dimensions Externes du Droit et de la Politique d’Immigration et d’Asile de l’UE, Bruylant, Bruxelles, 2011

Undocumented Migration: Counting the Uncountable. Data and Trends Across Europe

Maria De Somer, Trends and Gaps in the Academic Literature on EU Labour Migration Policies

Steve Peers, The second phase of the Common European Asylum System: A brave new world - or lipstick on a pig?

Steve Peers, The Common European Asylum System: State-of-play update

Steve Peers, The revised ‘Dublin’ rules on responsibility for asylum-seekers: The Council’s failure to fix a broken system

Henri Labayle, Le droit d’asile devant la persécution religieuse : la Cour de justice ne se dérobe pas

James Q. Whitman The Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity Versus Liberty, 1152 The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 113: 1153
Antoinette Rouvroy and Yves Poullet, The right to informational self-determination and the value of self-development. Reassessing the importance of privacy for democracy. “Reinventing Data Protection.”, Ed. S. Gutwirth, P. De Hert, Y. Poullet. Springer, 2009,

Marc Rotenberg, David Jacobs, Updating the law of information privacy: the new framework of the European Union, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Vol. 36
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Safeguarding Privacy in a connected World. A European Data Protection Framework for the 21st Century, COM/2012/09 final

F. Boehm, Data Protection Standard in the AFSJ, in Information Sharing and Data Protection in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, Springer, 2012

Data Protection in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: a system still to be fully developed? A study requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), 2009

Discretionary suggested reading:

André Klip, European Criminal Law. An integrative approach, 2012

Martijn Zwiers, The European Public Prosecutor's Office. Analysis of a Multilevel Criminal Justice System, Intersentia, 2011

Cristina Gortazar ( Eds.), European migration and asylum policies: coherence or contradiction?An interdisciplinary evaluation of the EU programmes of Tampere (1999), The Hague (2004), Stockholm (2009), Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2012

Daniel Thym, Francis Snyder (Dir.), Europe : a continent of immigration? : Legal Challenges in the Construction of European Migration Policy. 7. International Workshop for Young Scholars (WISH), Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2011.

Christina Boswell, Andrew Geddes, Migration and mobility in the European Union, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

Anja Wiesbrock, Legal migration to the European Union, Leiden, Boston, Nijhoff, 2010

Pieter Boeles, European migration law, Antwerp Intersentia, 2009

Laurence De Bauche, Vulnerability in European law on asylum : a conceptualization under construction : study on reception conditions for asylum seekers, Bruxelles ,Bruylant, 2012.

Cristina Gortazar [and others], European migration and asylum policies: coherence or contradiction? : an interdisciplinary evaluation of the EU programmes of Tampere (1999), The Hague (2004), Stockholm (2009), Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2012.

Flora A. N. J. Goudappel, Helena S. Raulus (editors), The future of asylum in the European Union : problems, proposals and human rights, The Hague, NL : T.M.C. Asser Press ; Berlin [etc.] : Springer [distr.], 2011.

Ida Staffans, Evidence in European asylum procedures, Leiden ; Boston : Nijhoff, 201

M. Maes [and others]. External dimensions of EU migration and asylum law and policy, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2011.

Anneliese Baldaccini, Elspeth Guild, Helen Toner (edited by), Whose freedom, security and justice? : EU immigration and asylum law and policy, Oxford ; Portland : Hart, 2007.

Olga Ferguson Sidorenko, The Common European Asylum System : background, current state of affairs, future direction, The Hague : T.M.C. Asser press, 2007.

Valentina Bazzocchi, The Charter and the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, in Giacomo Di Federico (edited by) The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. From Declaration to Binding Instrument, Springer 2011

Students, during the learning of the topics of the module, will have the opportunity to do exercises in order to assess their understanding of the topics being dealt within the various lessons. More precisely, for each section of the module, students will be asked to answer two open questions. The answers will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria: the structure of the answer, , thorough knowledge (supported by the reading recommended), and the critical knowledge building. The evaluation will be more than sufficient if the average grade will be 7. Moreover, the general evaluation of the module will derive from a quantitative and qualitative evaluation. The former is based on the number of access to the video archive, on the average length in the chat and in the forum with the tutor and on the results of tests and exercises, including the evaluation made by the tutor and the self-evaluation. The latter is strictly connected to the attendance to all the lessons, to the execution of the exercises and to the active involvement into the chat and the forum.