The notion of “Area of Freedom, Security and Justice” according to the Treaty of Lisbon

Abstract

The article examines the notion “Area of Freedom Security and Justice” (the “FSJ”), the history of its evolution in the law of the European Union, it investigates the subject matter of this legal institute.
In particular, the author notes, that the difficulty in comprehension and portraying of the FSJ is due to the fact that historically many of its significant trends came into existence before the actual definition and notion of the FSJ were formulated (the author here refers in the first place to the “third pillar” of the EU – cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs). Secondly, certain elements of the FSJ evolved beyond the scope of the European law and were integrated into the European law only at a later stage. The most striking example here is the Schengen Agreements. Thirdly, the FSJ provisions are to be found in many articles of the treaties and protocols thereto, which makes the research of the FSJ notion even more difficult.
The article examines many significant regulatory acts and measures undertaken by the EU, the competences of the EU member states and institutions, which together give an insight to the creation of the FSJ as that of an aim to be reached by the European Union.