Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Building trust in EU-wide justice: a new dimension to European judicial training

The European Union is built on the rule of law combining Union law and national legal systems. Both are applied by national judges who work within different legal systems and traditions. The creation of a European judicial culture that fully respects subsidiarity and judicial independence is central to the efficient functioning of a European judicial area. Judicial training is a crucial element of this process as it enhances mutual confidence between Member States, practitioners and citizens.

The objective of the European Commission is to enable half of the legal practitioners in the European Union to participate in European judicial training activities by 2020 through the use of all available resources at local, national and European level, in line with the objectives of the Stockholm Programme.

Reaching this goal requires the commitment and full co-operation of stakeholders at all levels. It is essential that Member States, the judiciary, judicial schools and legal professions boost their judicial training activities. As they are best placed to make sure that Union law is integrated in national training, action at European level will complement national activities.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)551: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:551:FIN

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