Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to offer a comprehensive analysis of Europol’s fledgling role in the area of counter-terrorism. Based on official European Union (EU) documents, internal reports and secondary sources, I contend that most of Europol’s counter-terrorism activities suffer from a peculiar chicken-egg dilemma. On the one hand, Europol has hitherto not been granted any supranational powers by the EU Member States and is not trusted by national law enforcement and intelligence agencies because it does not perform any indispensable counter-terrorism functions at the moment. On the other hand, the persisting lack of tangible ‘value-added’ in the area of counter-terrorism is primarily due to Europol’s limited powers and the lack of trust from the national agencies, which prefer to utilise long-standing bilateral and/or non-EU multilateral arrangements when it comes to information-sharing and practical work coordination. Both bilateral and informal multilateral arrangements, however, suffer from a number of important weaknesses, and their frequent use by the EU Member States has already raised intriguing questions concerning the legitimacy, accountability and transparency of the entire EU’s counter-terrorism policy. Europol could, therefore, potentially deliver tangible value-added in the area of counter-terrorism in a number of important areas, provided that the aforementioned chicken-egg dilemma is eventually resolved.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Archick, K. (2002) ‘Europe and Counter-terrorism: Strengthening Police and Judicial Cooperation’, Congressional Research Service Report to Congress, 23 July 2002, http://www.law.umaryland.edu, accessed on 28 January 2005.
Argomaniz, J. (2008) Counter-terrorism Policy-making in the EU (Nottingham: School of Politics & International Relations, University of Nottingham).
Balzacq, T., Bigo, D., Carrera, S. and Guild, E. (2006) ‘Security and the Two-Level Game: The Treaty of Prüm, the EU and the Management of Threats’, CEPS Working Document No. 234 (Brussels: Centre for European Policy Studies), http://shop.ceps.be, accessed on 7 January 2007.
Bendiek, A. (2006) ‘EU Strategy on Counter-terrorism’ (Berlin: German Institute for International and Security Affairs), http://www.swp-berlin.org, accessed on 7 January 2007.
Benjamin, D. (2005) ‘On Multilateral Counterterrorist Organizations’, The NYU Review of Law & Security (Special Issue), 14–15, http://www.lawandsecurity.org/publications/specialissueeurope_000.pdf, accessed on 1 April 2008.
Bensahel, N. (2003) ‘The Counterterror Coalitions: Cooperation with Europe, NATO, and the European Union’, MR-1746-AF (Santa Monica, CA: RAND), http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1746/MR1746.pdf, accessed on 10 January 2005.
Bigo, D. (2006) ‘Liberty, Whose Liberty? The Hague Programme and the Conception of Freedom’ in Balzacq, T. and Carrera, S. (eds) Security Versus Freedom? A Challenge for Europe’s Future (Aldershot, Ashgate), 35–44.
Bigo, D., Bonelli, L., Chi, D. and Olsson, C. (2007) ‘Mapping the Field of the EU Internal Security Agencies’ in Bigo, D. (ed.) The Field of the EU Internal Security Agencies (Paris: L’Harmattan), 5–66.
Bossong, R. (2008a) ‘The Action Plan on Combating Terrorism: A Flawed Instrument of EU Security Governance’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 46(1), 27–48.
Bossong, R. (2008b) ‘The EU’s Mature Counter-terrorism Policy: A Critical Historical and Functional Assessment’, LSE Challenge Working Paper, http://www2.lse.ac.uk, accessed on 21 November 2008.
Bures, O. (2010) ‘Perceptions of the Terrorist Threat among EU Member States’, Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, 4(1), 51–80.
Council of the European Union (1999) Council Decision of 3 December 1998 Instructing Europol to Deal with Crimes Committed or Likely to be Committed in the Course of Terrorist Activities Against Life, Limb, Personal Freedom or Property, OJ C 26, 30 January 1999.
Council of the European Union (2001) Conclusions and Plan of Action of the Extraordinary European Council Meeting on 21 September 2001, SN 140/01 (Brussels: Council of the European Union).
Council of the European Union (2003) Council Decision 2003/48/JHA of 19 December 2002 on the Implementation of Specific Measures for Police and Judicial Cooperation to Combat Terrorism in Accordance with Article 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP, OJ L 16, 22 January 2003.
Council of the European Union (2004) Provisional Findings of the Two ‘Peer Evaluation’ Mechanisms Affecting the Union Fight Against Terrorism, 9876/04, 26 May 2004 (Brussels: Council of the European Union).
Council of the European Union (2005) Council Decision 2005/671/JHA of 20 September 2005 on the Exchange of Information and Cooperation Concerning Terrorist Offences, OJ L 253/22, 20 September (Brussels: Council of the European Union).
Council of the European Union (2009) Council Decision of 6 April 2009 Establishing the European Police Office (Europol), 2009/371/JHA, 6 April (Brussels: Council of the European Union).
Deflem, M. (2006) ‘Europol and the Policing of International Terrorism: Counter-terrorism in a Global Perspective’, Justice Quarterly, 23(3), 336–359.
Dempsey, J. (2004) ‘Europe at Loggerheads over How to Co-ordinate on Terrorism’, Financial Times, 18 March, 6.
Den Boer, M., Hillebrand, C. and Nölke, A. (2008) ‘Legitimacy under Pressure: The European Web of Counter-Terrorism Networks’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 46(1), 101–124.
Douglas-Scott, S. (2004) ‘The Rule of Law in the European Union: Putting the Security in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice’, European Law Review, 29(2), 219–242.
Edwards, G. and Meyer, C.O. (2008) ‘Introduction: Charting a Contested Transformation’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 46(1), 1–25.
European Commission (2004) European Commission Action Paper in Response to the Terrorist Attacks on Madrid, http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/mar/Comm-Action-Plan.pdf, accessed on 19 March 2004.
Europol (2007) ‘Fact Sheet on Europol 2007’, http://www.europol.europa.eu, accessed on 12 July 2007.
Europol (2008) Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2008, http://www.europol.europa.eu, accessed on 25 March 2009.
Europol (2009) Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2009. http://www.europol.europa.eu, accessed on 25 June 2009.
Guild, E. and Geyer, F. (2008) Security versus Justice: Police and Judicial Cooperation in the European Union (Aldershot: Ashgate).
Hayes, B. (2006) ‘The Future of Europol: More Powers, Less Regulation, Precious Little Debate’, Statewatch, August, http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/oct/future-of-europol-analysis.pdf, accessed on 17 April 2008.
John Howell & Co. (2007) Independent Scrutiny: The EU’s Efforts in the Fight Against Terrorist Financing in the Context of the Financial Action Task Force’s Nine Special Recommendations and the EU Counter Terrorist Financing Strategy (European Commission), 1 February.
Joshi, J. (2004) ‘EU Holds Emergency Terror Talks after Madrid Blasts’, Agence France Presse, 19 March.
Keohane, D. (2008) ‘The Absent Friend: EU Foreign Policy and Counter-Terrorism’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 46(1), 125–146.
Lavenex, S. and Wallace, W. (2005) ‘Justice and Home Affairs: Towards a European Public Order?’ in Wallace, H. Wallace, W. and Pollack, M. (eds) Policy-Making in the European Union (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press), 457–480.
Lugna, L. (2006) ‘Institutional Framework of the European Union Counter-Terrorism Policy Setting’, Baltic Security & Defence Review, 82, 101–127.
Mitsilegas, V. (2009) ‘The Third Wave of Third Pillar Law: Which Direction for EU Criminal Justice?’ European Law Review, 34(4), 523–560.
Müller-Wille, B. (2004) For Our Eyes Only? Shaping an Intelligence Community within the EU, Occasional Papers No. 50 (Paris: Institute for Security Studies).
Müller-Wille, B. (2008) ‘The Effect of International Terrorism on EU Intelligence Co-operation’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 46(1), 49–73.
Peers, S. (2007) ‘Europol: The Final Step in the Creation of an “Investigative and Operational” European Police Force’, Statewatch Analysis, http://www.statewatch.org/news/2007/jan/europol-analysis.pdf, accessed on 17 April 2008.
Peterson, J. and Bomberg, E. (1999) Decision-Making in the European Union (London: Palgrave Macmillan).
Ratzel, M.-P. (2007a) ‘Europol — das Europäische Polizeiamt. Teil 1: Geschichte, Organization, Aufgaben, Zuständigkeiten und Rechtsgrundlage’, Kriminalistik, 5, 284–291.
Ratzel, M.-P. (2007b) ‘Europol in the Combat of International Terrorism’, in Durmaz, H. Sevinc, B. Yayla, A.S. and Ekici, S. (eds) Understanding and Responding to Terrorism (Amsterdam: IOS Press), 11–16.
Rauchs, G. and Koenig, D. (2001) ‘Europol’ in Koenig, D. and Das, D. (eds) International Police Cooperation (New York, NY: Lexington Books), 43–62.
Rijken, C. and Vermeulen, G. (2006) Joint Investigation Teams in the European Union — From Theory to Practice (The Hague: TMC Asser Press).
Statewatch (2004) ‘“Scoreboard” on Post-Madrid Counter-terrorism Plans, 23 March’, http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/mar/swscoreboard.pdf, accessed on 25 August 2004.
Statewatch (2006) ‘G6 Conclusions: Meeting of the Interior Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, Heiligendamm, 22–23 March 2006’, http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/mar/06eu-interior-ministerconclusions, accessed on 22 January 2008.
Stevenson, J. (2003) ‘How Europe and America Defend Themselves’, Foreign Affairs, 82(2), 75–91.
Swallow, P. (2004) ‘Transnational Terrorism: Police, Interpol and Europol’ in Cerny, O. and Edmonds, M. (eds) Future NATO Security: Addressing the Challenges of Evolving Security and Information Sharing Systems and Architectures (Amsterdam: ISO Press), 74–76.
UK House of Commons, H. A. C. (2007) ‘Justice and Home Affairs Issues at European Union Level’, Third Report of Session2006–07, volume I, 24 May.
UK House of Lords, E. U. C. (2005) ‘After Madrid: The EU’s Response to Terrorism’, Fifth Report of Session2004–05, 8 March.
UK House of Lords, E. U. C. (2007a) ‘After Heiligendamm: Doors Ajar at Stratford-upon-Avon’, Fifth Report of Session2006–07, 21 February.
UK House of Lords, E. U. C. (2007b) ‘Prüm: An Effective Weapon against Terrorism and Crime?’, 18th Report of Session2006–07, 9 May.
UK House of Lords, E. U. C. (2008) ‘EUROPOL: Coordinating the Fight against Serious and Organised Crime’, 29th Report of Session2007–08, 12 November.
Vennemann, N. (2003) ‘Country Report on the European Union’ in Walter, C. Vöneky, S. Röben, V. and Schorkopf, F. (eds) Terrorism as a Challenge for National and International Law: Security Versus Liberty? (Springer: Berlin; Heidelberg), http://edoc.mpil.de/conference-on-terrorism/country/eu.pdf, accessed on 14 February 2004.
Villadsen, O.R. (2000) ‘Prospects for a European Common Intelligence Policy’, Studies in Intelligence, 44(9), 81–94.
Zimmermann, D. (2006) ‘The European Union and Post-9/11 Counter-terrorism: A Reappraisal’, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 29(2), 123–145.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Oldrich Bures
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bures, O. (2013). Europol’s Counter-terrorism Role: A Chicken-Egg Dilemma. In: Kaunert, C., Léonard, S. (eds) European Security, Terrorism and Intelligence. Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314734_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314734_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34852-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-31473-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)