The end of 2014 will also mark the end of the Stockholm Programme which has set the legislative and operational agenda in the area of freedom, security and justice for the last 5 years. After 15 years with the tradition of organising this policy area on the basis of quinquennial programmes (1999 Tampere; 2004 The Hague; 2009 Stockholm), the process and form will be different this time around.
Indeed, since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009, the new Article 68 grants the European Council a key role in defining the strategic guidelines in the policy fields related to the area of freedom, security and justice.
In this new context, the key question is: what will the post-Stockholm phase look like?