Making the EU Citizens' Agenda Work. CEPS Policy Brief, No. 122, 9 February 2007

[From the Introduction]. It is both an honour and a pleasure to submit comments to this inquiry into the Commission’s Communication on the legislative and work programme 2007. It is vital that the work of the Commission is subject to oversight by the European Parliament and national parliaments in order to ensure proper democratic participation in the priorities and legislative programme of the Commission. In our view, the inquiries carried out by the House of Lords Committee on these issues are of fundamental importance to the operation of the EU. We would encourage other national parliaments to take the same active interest in carrying out scrutiny of activity by the Commission and other EU level actors to ensure that democratic voices from across the Union are heard. This submission addresses six areas of the Work Programme 2007 which are related to our work in the area of freedom, security and justice: 1) the ‘big agendas’, 2) strategic objectives regarding security, 3) the EU’s voice in the world, 4) managing migration flows, 5) managing the acquis and 6) connecting Europe to its citizens. We will not comment on proposals in fields beyond this sphere except to the extent that they have consequences for the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ)