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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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.
