On 19 October 2020, the European Commission published its Work Programme 2021, entitled “A Union of vitality in a world of fragility”. It is supplemented by four annexes.

The Work Programme contains new legislative initiatives across all six headline ambitions that were described in the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s Political Guidelines (àeucrim news dated 27 July 2020), and it reinforces her first State of the Union Speech of September 2020.

In the area of Justice and Home Affairs, the Work Programme outlines the following:

• Set-up of a new strategy for the future of Schengen;
• Continued work on the new pact on migration and asylum;
• Proposal for a number of measures on legal migration.

In order to strengthen the Security Union, the Commission announced that it would be taking measures to tackle organised crime and hybrid threats as well as taking a new approach to counter-terrorism measures and radicalisation. Furthermore, it intends to improve the detection, removal, and reporting of child sexual abuse online. A comprehensive strategy on combating antisemitism shall also be presented.