On 15 October 1999, at the Tampere European Council, Nicole Fontaine, President of the European Parliament, discusses the implications of the future European area of freedom, security and justice.

At the meeting of the European Council held in Tampere, Finland, on 15 and 16 October 1999, the Heads of State or Government of the Fifteen approve the full and immediate implementation of the Treaty of Amsterdam with regard to internal security within the EU.

On 16 October 1999, at the end of the meeting of the European Council in Tampere, Finland, Jacques Chirac, French President, and his Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, reply to questions from journalists on the establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice within the European Union.

On 16 October 1999, the Madrid-based daily newspaper El País outlines the results of the Tampere European Council, especially on immigration policy and the right to asylum, particularly with regard to the strengthening of the European Union’s external border controls and the plan for the creation of a Common European Asylum System. The article also focuses on the way Spain manages migration flows and lists the main measures introduced by the Spanish authorities in this area.

On 18 October 1999, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro comments on the outcome of the Tampere European Council of 15 and 16 October with particular regard to the establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice in the European Union.

In November–December 1999, in the monthly legal journal Revue du Marché Commun et de l’Union Européenne, Charles Elsen, Director General at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, considers the implications of cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs (JHA) in the European Union.