EU justice and home affairs 2014-21: A timeline

Oldest to newest
Newest to oldest
First meeting of the Amato Group ‘Humane borders, fair movement - Managing European frontiers in line with European values’
28 October 2014
7 November 2014
The European arrest warrant: A British affair

The European arrest warrant: A British affair

The EAW is necessary for ensuring Britain’s security. Reforming the system would address existing flaws.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
David Cameron announces he will seek a reform of EU free movement rules; the UK opts back into 35 EU justice and home affairs laws, including the European Arrest Warrant.
28 November 2014
4 December 2014
Cameron's migration speech and EU law: Can he change the status quo?

Cameron's migration speech and EU law: Can he change the status quo?

The reforms to the benefits system proposed by Cameron will be difficult to negotiate and may require treaty change. Reforms should not lead to a Brexit.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack
7 January 2015
27 January 2015
After Paris: What’s next for the EU’s counter-terrorism policy?

After Paris: What’s next for the EU’s counter-terrorism policy?

After the Paris shootings, the EU should focus on advancing its already-agreed counter-terrorism agenda, while ensuring a fair balance between privacy and security.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Second meeting of the Amato Group ‘Security versus privacy: What is at stake in the European and transatlantic debates?’
26 March 2015
Massive migrant shipwreck between Libya and Sicily
18 April 2015
23 April 2015
Dead in the water: Fixing the EU’s failed approach to Mediterranean migrants

Dead in the water: Fixing the EU’s failed approach to Mediterranean migrants

The humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean forces the EU to act. It should reform its asylum policy and take action in Libya, not resort to half measures.
Camino Mortera-Martinez, Rem Korteweg
EU member-states agree to relocate 40,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece and to resettle a further 20,000 across the EU
25 June 2015
Unprecedented number of asylum seekers, mostly coming from Syria and Libya, begin to arrive to the EU. EU member-states close their borders
1 July 2015
8 September 2015
Europe’s refugee crisis: Chronicle of a death foretold

Europe’s refugee crisis: Chronicle of a death foretold

To solve the refugee crisis, the EU should adopt a strategy that combines foreign policy and integration schemes. It should also reform its asylum law.
Camino Mortera-Martinez, Ian Bond, Simon Tilford
EU member-states agree to relocate a further 120,00 people from Italy, Greece and Hungary , outvoting, for the first time in a JHA Council, four countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia)
22 September 2015
Third meeting of the Amato Group: ‘Migration, security and law enforcement: What are the advantages, what should be the limits?’
27 October 2015
Paris terrorist attacks
13 November 2015
17 November 2015
Terrorism in Paris: Aux armes, citoyens?

Terrorism in Paris: Aux armes, citoyens?

The West should draw the right lessons from the Paris attacks. A military response to Daesh in Syria must be combined with better European intelligence co-operation.
Camino Mortera-Martinez, Rem Korteweg
First report of the Amato Group: ‘Big data, Big Brother: How to secure Europeans’ safety and privacy’
4 December 2015
Big data, Big Brother? How to secure Europeans' safety and privacy

Big data, Big Brother? How to secure Europeans' safety and privacy

To keep Europeans safe and respect their privacy, the EU needs to improve its relationship with America and the functioning of the European Parliament.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Brussels terrorist attacks; closure of the Western Balkan migration route; EU-Turkey migration deal
22 March 2016
24 March 2016
Doomed: Five reasons why the EU-Turkish refugee deal will not work

Doomed: Five reasons why the EU-Turkish refugee deal will not work

The EU-Turkish refugee deal is unlikely to work, because of legal and practical reasons. The EU will need to go back to its initial strategy.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Fourth meeting of the Amato Group: ‘Ariadne’s thread: Can Greece and Turkey solve the refugee crisis?’
13 April 2016
Second report of the Amato Group: ‘Why Schengen matters and how to keep it: A five point plan’
13 May 2016
Why Schengen matters and how to keep it: A five point plan

Why Schengen matters and how to keep it: A five point plan

Schengen, the agreement that abolished border controls in parts of the EU, may unravel. To keep Schengen, Europe must manage asylum seekers in an orderly way and keep European citizens safe.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Brexit referendum
23 June 2016
Nice terrorist attack
14 July 2016
Berlin Christmas Market terrorist attack
19 December 2016
Third report of the Amato Group: ‘What free movement means for Europe and why it matters to Britain’
19 January 2017
What free movement means to Europe and why it matters to Britain

What free movement means to Europe and why it matters to Britain

Britain and the EU-27 view migration very differently. That could complicate the Brexit and free trade negotiations.
Camino Mortera-Martinez, Christian Odendahl
EU countries renew internal border controls
11 May 2017
24 May 2017
Europe's forgotten refugee crisis

Europe's forgotten refugee crisis

The EU is far from having solved the problems that led to the refugee crisis. It needs to make its asylum system work and do more to send irregular migrants back.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Fifth meeting of the Amato Group: ‘Are Libya and Tunisia Europe’s own Nauru island? The ‘offshoring’ of EU asylum and migration policies’
27 June 2017
European Commission triggers Article 7 disciplinary proceedings against Poland for breach of EU values
20 December 2017
Sixth meeting of the Amato Group ‘Does Europe speak cyber?’
27 February 2018
Seventh meeting of the Amato Group: ‘Which ‘legal pathways’? Proposals for workable migration schemes’
13 June 2018
Merkel’s plan to return asylum seekers to other member-states
30 June 2018
Fourth report of the Amato Group: ‘Game over? Europe’s cyber problem’
9 July 2018
Merkel's migration deal: Less than the sum of its parts

Merkel's migration deal: Less than the sum of its parts

The June European Council has not solved the EU’s migration problems.
Sophia Besch, Camino Mortera-Martinez, Luigi Scazzieri
Game over? Europe's cyber problem

Game over? Europe's cyber problem

The EU knows that a cyber war is happening, but not how to fight it. To be up to speed, the bloc needs to update its cyber security plan
Camino Mortera-Martinez
European Parliament triggers Article 7 disciplinary proceedings against Hungary for breach of EU values
12 September 2018
Eight meeting of the Amato Group: ‘The Security Union: A bill of health’
27 November 2018
Fifth report of the Amato Group: ‘Why Europe needs legal migration and how to sell it’
20 December 2018
Why Europe needs legal migration and how to sell it

Why Europe needs legal migration and how to sell it

Europe needs migrants, and migration is inevitable. Now, European leaders must articulate a powerful case for opening legal migration channels, rather than defaulting to vote-winning policies of containment and control.
Camino Mortera-Martinez, Beth Oppenheim
Ninth meeting of the Amato Group: ‘Talking migration in the time of populism’
25 March 2019
1 April 2019
Catch me if you can: The European Arrest Warrant and the end of mutual trust

Catch me if you can: The European Arrest Warrant and the end of mutual trust

EU countries trust each other less than they used to, making them less willing to co-operate.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Sixth report of the Amato Group: ‘The EU’s Security Union: A bill of health’
21 June 2019
The EU's Security Union: A bill of health

The EU's Security Union: A bill of health

The Security Union has a mixed record. The next EU leaders should learn from its successes and failures to deal with fresh security questions like migration, China and disruptive technologies.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Tenth meeting of the Amato Group: ‘An offer EU cannot refuse: What is Europe doing to fight corruption?’
10 July 2019
CER/Amato Group report by Raoul Ueberecken ‘Schengen reloaded’
11 November 2019
Schengen reloaded

Schengen reloaded

The EU's Schengen borderless area is popular, but has been challenged by the migration crisis and terrorism. It needs updating, but not a complete reset.
Raoul Ueberecken
The World Health Organisation declares COVID-19 a pandemic
11 March 2020
The EU agrees on an unprecedented post-pandemic recovery fund
20 July 2020
The European Commission unveils its ‘new migration pact’
23 September 2020
30 September 2020
Will the coronavirus pandemic deliver a coup de grâce to Schengen?

Will the coronavirus pandemic deliver a coup de grâce to Schengen?

The EU’s Schengen area will survive the pandemic. But member-states need to co-ordinate border closures and set clear criteria for imposing quarantines, or they will imperil the single market.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
26 October 2020
The Commission's 'new migration pact': Handle with care

The Commission's 'new migration pact': Handle with care

The European Commission's new migration plans are more likely to succeed than previous attempts at reforming the system.
Camino Mortera-Martinez, Luigi Scazzieri
The EU passes a law that allows it to freeze funding to member-states which do not respect the rule of law (the so-called rule of law conditionality mechanism)
16 December 2020
Orbán's Fidesz party quits the European Popular Party group
3 March 2021
Eighth report of the Amato Group: ‘How to fight corruption and uphold the rule of law’
27 April 2021
How to fight corruption and uphold the rule of law

How to fight corruption and uphold the rule of law

Corruption is a problem for the European Union and endangers the rule of law. To protect EU money and stop democratic backsliding, the EU needs better anti-graft plans.
Camino Mortera-Martinez
Launch of the conference on the future of Europe
9 May 2021
1 June 2021
Hurrah for the conference on the future of Europe!

Hurrah for the conference on the future of Europe!

If done right, the conference on the future of Europe can help bring about meaningful reform in the EU – even if that means changing the treaties. 
Camino Mortera-Martinez
The Commission approves first national recovery plans; a majority of EU leaders confront Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over his recently approved LGTBIQ+ laws
23 June 2021
Launch of 'Is there a future for the EU's area of freedom, security and justice? A plan to build back trust'
27 January 2022