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Guarding EU-wide Counter-terrorism Policing: The Struggle for Sound Parliamentary Scrutiny of Europol

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European Security, Terrorism and Intelligence

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics ((PSEUP))

Abstract

In its Internal Security Strategy (ISS), the European Union (EU) re-emphasised its strong commitment to fighting terrorism within its territory (Council of the European Union, 2010a). Indeed, counter-terrorism practices are not a purely domestic task anymore. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC, on 11 September 2001 and subsequent terrorist incidents on European territory, ‘police institutions across the globe have proliferated their counterterrorism strategies, both domestically and abroad, while international police have likewise stepped up their campaigns’ (Deflem, 2006a, p. 241). As a regional actor, the EU quickly identified terrorism as one of the key common threats its Member States have to face in the current world (Council of the European Union, 2003, 2010a).1 The transnational nature of the threat and the realisation that ‘Europe is both a target and a base for […] terrorism’ (Council of the European Union, 2003, p. 3) are continuously referred to as justifications for increasing counter-terrorism activities at the EU level (e.g. Europol, 2008, p. 5). Key features of the EU’s fight against terrorism are, for example, anti-radicalisation measures, instruments to combat the financing of terrorism as well as the strengthening and facilitation of information- and intelligence-sharing among not only police authorities, but also other security providers, such as intelligence services (Hillebrand, 2012; Spence, 2007; Howorth, 2008).

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  1. Claudia Hillebrand
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Dundee, UK

    Christian Kaunert (Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Politics) & Sarah Léonard (Lecturer in Politics) (Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Politics) &  (Lecturer in Politics)

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© 2013 Claudia Hillebrand

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Hillebrand, C. (2013). Guarding EU-wide Counter-terrorism Policing: The Struggle for Sound Parliamentary Scrutiny of Europol. 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_5

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