EU Counterterrorism and Aviation Security: Supranational Rules but Intergovernmental Politics?

Even though it is far from institutionalized, the field of international aviation security is dominated by growing global trends such as the proliferation of the ban on liquids in hand luggage and of the installation of body scanners in airports.

The initiators of these two trends are the US in coalition with specific European states. In these cases, the European Union (EU) varies from being an early adopter to a belated one, depending on its internal politics. By employing its veto powers in full, the European Parliament (EP) has achieved a relevant influence over the policy content.

In turn, despite the supranational character of decision-making rules in the EU aviation security area, the European Commission has played a weak role as an agenda setter in the substantive choices and has concentrated on performing as a coordinator - thus playing a similar role to its involvement in a number of EU intergovernmental issues. In any event, the agenda of EU aviation security is firmly in the hand of the Member States. After adopting a standard, the EU has tried to export it; yet in that process, the Commission's role is also weakened vis-a-vis the Member States' capacities.