During the Dutch presidency, the following Councils will meet to discuss this policy area:

- 19-07-2004 - Brussels - Belgium
- 30-09-2004 t/m 01-10-2004 - The Hague - Nederland
- 25-10-2004 t/m 26-10-2004 - Luxembourg - Luxembourg
- 10-11-2004 t/m 11-11-2004 - Groningen - The Netherlands
- 19-11-2004 - Brussels- Belgium
- 02-12-2004 t/m 03-12-2004 - Brussels - Belgium
Click here for a full list of upcoming meetings

Maastricht Treaty
In 1993 the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty) entered into effect. This treaty created a new basis for cooperation in the sphere of justice and home affairs by adding a third pillar to the structure of the EU. Within this area, cooperation focuses on seven subjects of common interest: asylum, external border controls, immigration, action to curb drug trafficking and drug addiction, action to combat international fraud, cooperation in civil and criminal matters, and cooperation between police and customs authorities. Many of these being sensitive issues, the Treaty emphasises the sovereignty of member states and of those EU institutions in which member states are directly involved, and restricts the powers of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice.

Treaty of Amsterdam
The Treaty of Amsterdam, which entered into effect on 1 May 1999, changed cooperation in the sphere of justice and home affairs by transferring several policy areas to the supranational first pillar of the EU. These were visas, asylum, immigration, and other policy areas relating to the free movement of persons. In addition, cooperation between judicial authorities in civil matters has become a first-pillar policy area. Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters still comes under the third pillar. The Treaty of Amsterdam added the prevention and combating of racism and xenophobia to the third pillar.

An Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The Tampere European Council of 1999 was dedicated to the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice.

- "An area of freedom": this means bringing about the free movement of persons in accordance with the Schengen model, the protection of human rights, and the suppression of all forms of discrimination.
- "An area of security": this relates to the fight against crime, in particular terrorism, trafficking in human beings, crimes against children, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, corruption and fraud. Europol plays a key role here in strengthening operational cooperation between member states.
- "An area of justice": notwithstanding the differences between member states, the Union seeks to guarantee the citizens of Europe equal access to justice and to improve the cooperation between judicial authorities.

Cooperation in the sphere of asylum and immigration
Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, visas, asylum, immigration and other policy areas relating to the free movement of persons have fallen under the first pillar of the EU. The Treaty enumerates various objectives that may be furthered by achieving a certain harmonisation of asylum and immigration policy. In addition, the Tampere European Council adopted four priorities in the realm of asylum and immigration:
- partnership with the main countries of origin;
- a common European asylum system;
- the fair treatment of legal immigrants;
- the management of migration flows and the suppression of illegal immigration.

Cooperation in civil matters
Judicial cooperation in civil matters focuses primarily on improving cooperation between the authorities of the member states. The aim is to improve and streamline cooperation in relation to cross-border services and documents, the gathering of evidence, the recognition and enforcement of judgments handed down in civil cases, the rules governing the application of rules, and the jurisdiction of courts. Judicial cooperation in civil matters has also belonged to the first pillar of the EU since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam. The Tampere Council formulated three specific priorities:
- the mutual recognition of judicial decisions;
- better legislation governing compensation for the victims of crime;
- greater convergence in civil law within the EU.

Civil protection
Measures which are taken at the European level in the area of civil protection are mainly additional to the national systems for crisis management and disaster control.  These measures focus on preparing for and combatting technological disasters, natural disasters and emergency environmental disasters.
Website European Council, Civil Protection

Cooperation between police and judicial authorities within the European Union
The goal pursued by encouraging cooperation between the various police services in the EU is to guarantee all EU citizens a high level of security and protection. The European police agency (Europol) plays an important role here. The advent of Eurojust is intended to promote cooperation between public prosecution services throughout the EU. Cooperation between police and judicial authorities in criminal matters still belongs to the third pillar of the EU. All member states now have legislation aimed at suppressing the same forms of corruption, fraud, drug trafficking, and people trafficking and smuggling. The member states have also drafted specific provisions of criminal law governing acts of terrorism.