On 5 December 1977, at the Brussels European Council of 5 and 6 December, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, President of the French Republic, proposes the establishment of a European judicial area.

On 14 December 1977, during a televised interview, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, President of the French Republic, defends his proposal for a European judicial area and outlines the implications of such an area for France and for Europe.

On 10 April 1979, Gérard Bordu, Member of the European Parliament, asks the Council of the European Communities for clarification regarding the implementation of the proposed European judicial area.

On 9 July 1982, the European Parliament adopts a resolution on the proposal for a European judicial area and reaffirms the importance of European cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism.

On 27 May 1983, Robert Badinter, French Minister for Justice, describes to members of the French Senate the French Government’s efforts to strengthen judicial cooperation in criminal matters at European level and to seek the appropriate legal instruments to combat acts of terrorism.

On 15 June 1990 in Dublin, the representatives of the Twelve sign the Convention determining the State responsible for examining applications for asylum lodged in one of the Member States of the European Communities.

On 28 and 29 June 1991, the Luxembourg European Council sets out the successive stages of common action to be undertaken by the Twelve in the field of justice and home affairs.

On 27 February 1996, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the hardening of the policy of the Fifteen towards asylum seekers and refers to the criticisms of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

On 20 December 1996, the European Council of Ministers adopts a Joint Action on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union in order to establish for the period 1997–2000 a common programme for the exchange and training of, and cooperation between, the law enforcement authorities of the Member States (Oisin).

On 16 June 1997, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung considers the implications of the establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice in Community Europe.

On 14 July 1998, resolved to work towards the establishment of a European area of justice and internal affairs, the European Commission publishes the communication Towards an area of freedom, security and justice, which, in application of the Treaty of Amsterdam, seeks inter alia to bring the European Union closer to the people.

On 19 March 1998, on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, the Council adopts the Odysseus Joint Action establishing a programme of training, exchanges and cooperation in the field of asylum, immigration and the crossing of the external borders of the 15 Member States.

On 19 March 1998, on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, the Council adopts the Falcone Joint Action establishing a programme of exchanges, training and cooperation for persons responsible for action to combat organised crime in the 15 Member States.

In January 1999, the French monthly magazine Le Monde diplomatique comments on the decision of the Fifteen to create a ‘no-go area’ — a ‘cordon sanitaire’ — along their shared borders, in order to achieve better control over the influx of immigrants and asylum seekers.

On 22 November 2000, in a bid to help enhance judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the European Union and to combat organised crime, the European Commission adopts a communication in which it comments on the tasks assigned to the Eurojust unit which was established by the Fifteen at the Tampere European Council of 15 and 16 October 1999 in the form of a service, based in Brussels, consisting of magistrates, prosecutors, judges and other legal experts, seconded from each Member State of the European Union.

In this interview, António Vitorino, Member of the European Commission with special responsibility for justice and home affairs from 1999 to 2004, outlines the main progress made in terms of asylum and immigration policy since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999.

On 11 and 12 December 1998, the Vienna European Council adopts the report approved by the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 3 December 1998 in Brussels on the action plan of the Council and the Commission concerning the optimum terms for putting in place the provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty regarding the establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice.

At the Vienna European Council held on 11 and 12 December 1998, in the presence of the Foreign Ministers of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) and Cyprus, the Heads of State or Government of the Fifteen adopt an action plan which lays down the measures to be taken after the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam in order to establish a European area of freedom, security and justice.

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.

On 15 and 16 October 1999, in application of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Tampere (Finland) European Council adopts a series of measures with a view to the establishment of a genuine area of freedom, security and justice within the European Union.

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 16 October 1999, following the Tampere European Council of 15 and 16 October, the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, outlines to journalists the progress made by the Fifteen with particular regard to the establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice in the European Union.

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.

On 28 October 1999, in the Bundestag, the German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer comments on the decisions of the Tampere European Council regarding, in particular, the establishment of a European 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.