Justice and Home Affairs Cooperation in the European Union after the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty[Spolupráca v oblasti spravodlivosti a vnútorných vecí v Európskej únii po prijatí Lisabonskej zmluvy]

The Lisbon Treaty represents a major milestone in the evolution of Justice and Home Affairs Cooperation in the European Union (which concerns immigration, asylum, border controls, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters and police cooperation). The Lisbon Treaty abolishes the "old" pillar structure of the European Union. Matters which were previously part of the third pillar, such as police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, will be treated under the rules of the supranational cooperation. This document provides necessary and positive response to the deficiencies and vulnerabilities that characterised the previous system. However, for the new reform is typical the high number of exceptions from the general rules. The aim of this paper is to describe and partially analyse the reasons that have affected a further convergence of the Justice and Home Affairs Policies between the Member States and to provide an overview of the main legislative changes in this area after the Lisbon Treaty came into effect on 1 December 2009.