Brussels, 10/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - In today's Europe, more and more people live, work and do business in other EU countries. Since taking up the role as the first commissioner for justice, my goal has been to make life easier for people by building a true European Area of Justice. This has been my very personal choice when having to develop a European justice policy. I have decided to focus my work on offering practical solutions to cross-border problems, so that businesses can make full use of the single market and citizens feel at ease when moving around the EU. I have chosen to focus on two main pillars which I call Justice for Growth and Justice for Citizens. That means identifying how justice policies can help to reinforce stability, jobs and growth in Europe. It means responding to the realities of an integrated Europe for citizens. As the European elections approach and as the mandate of the European Commission comes to an end, choices will need to be evaluated and new choices will have to be made - for example about the direction future EU justice policy should take.
Pillar one: Justice for Growth
In these economically difficult times, this Commission made a deliberate choice to gear justice policies towards boosting economic growth. A European area of justice can make life easier for businesses and contribute to growth. We need effective and efficient justice systems across Europe to help drive the economy, attract investors and increase competitiveness. This is what I call justice for growth. Over the past years the Commission has been putting forward growth-enhancing policies to help companies though economically rough times.
In 2010, we reformed EU rules on how court judgements issued in one EU member state are recognised and enforced in another and abolished time-consuming and costly procedures for getting a judgement issued in one member state recognised in another. And we took action to help firms facing insolvency. We reformed EU insolvency rules to shift the focus away from liquidation towards giving good, honest businesses a second chance.
One of the Commission's most important proposals has been to strengthen our data protection rules and bring them into the digital age. The EU data protection reform will strengthen people's rights and give companies the legal certainty they need to do business. The European Parliament recently gave its strong backing to the Commission's proposals sending the signal that data protection is “made in Europe”. EU leaders agreed at their summit in October to adopt the reform in a “timely” way. Now it is time national ministers followed this through.
Continuing data scandals in the private and in the public sector and U.S. spying revelations have served as a wake-up call: citizens are demanding strong European data protection rules and businesses want a simple, clear and enforceable legal framework for doing business in the EU's single market. The EU data protection reform answers both needs. It is a win-win deal for citizens and businesses and that is why negotiations should be completed swiftly.
Pillar two: Justice for Citizens and the European Year of Citizens
Europe is more than just a market. Europe is there because of and to serve its citizens - which is why we made 2013 the European Year of Citizens: a year dedicated to citizens and their rights. Five months ahead of the European Parliament elections, we need to explain how and why using our democratic rights as EU citizens makes a difference. That is why for the past year, my fellow commissioners and I have been joining forces with members of the European Parliament, national and local politicians in holding public debates all across Europe - to listen to citizens. The input we gathered is already shaping our policies: on 8 May the European Commission put forward a second “Citizenship Report” - 12 new concrete measures to solve problems citizens told us about in their letters and during the Citizens' Dialogues. We have also put in place landmark laws to protect fair trial rights of our citizens and to ensure that justice systems take into account the needs and rights of victims. Work to improve citizens' everyday lives will continue to guide our discussions on the future of the European Union and how to strengthen our democratic foundations.
2014 will be the year when people across our continent choose what kind of Europe they want to live in. After five years of crisis management, it is now for citizens across Europe to have a say. European Parliament elections are more important than national elections, because they decide about the direction a whole continent will take. Voters can decide whether Europe should take a more social or a more market liberal direction; whether the future majority in the European Parliament will favour the opening of Europe's borders to immigration or close them; whether we are tough with the U.S. when it comes to data protection or genetically modified organisms, or whether we will instead favour the economic benefits of free trade.
Elections are about choices. They are about political alternatives. This will be our best weapon against the Eurosceptics: to explain to our citizens that their vote really matters - and that it would be a waste of their vote to use it as a protest vote, by choosing Eurosceptics on the right or on the left.
The future is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. Elections are determined by the people who turn up. I want to see turnout at the next European elections surpass 50%. This is what I will be fighting for personally every day until election day, all across our Union.
What's next?
Justice for growth and justice for citizens - these are policy areas where citizens and businesses expect action from policy-makers in Europe. The Commission has delivered.
We have been laying down the building blocks for a European area of justice. And we want to continue along this path. For that we need a clear vision of where Europe's justice policy will go next, or should go next. As some may be thinking about an “end of a mandate”, we are thinking about the beginning of a new vision for Europe's justice policy. You will see the result next spring when the Commission will present how we see EU justice policy develop in the future. One thing is already clear today: the future of EU justice policy needs to focus on strategic orientations, not on shopping lists. EU justice policy is mature. It does not need the crutch of five year programmes.
2014 will be the year of choices - for citizens but also for the European Commission.
I have made my choice. And I have made it known. I stand for a strong and united Europe. A federal Europe in which national identities can be preserved in an era of globalisation. Where 28 voices can speak with authority as one on the international stage. I would like to see a United States of Europe, with the Commission as a strong executive and the European Parliament as a real legislature with the right to initiate legislation and the place where important economic reforms are debated in public - rather than being decided by troikas or financial experts behind closed doors. Such changes will take time but without a clear vision we cannot get there. It is all too easy to campaign against something, making Europe the scapegoat for national choices. I want to see politicians campaigning for something. That is why I for one will be campaigning for a strong Europe that is at the service of our 507 million citizens.