The European Union’s Fight Against Terrorism. The CFSP and Beyond

This book contributes to the understanding of the counter-terrorism (CT) policy of the European Union (EU) by offering a set of analyses focusing on its external dimension. Whilst calling for the combination of internal and external policies as well as cooperation with third countries and international institutions, the external dimension of EUCT challenges previous assumptions on the functioning of the EU and offers new testing ground for the latest theoretical and methodological approaches.

This volume provides the first systematic assessment of the external dimension of EUCT. It covers transatlantic counter-terrorism cooperation, the interaction between EU institutions and policies, theoretical debates on EU actorness in counter-terrorism and the role of judicial institutions in international counter-terrorism. Furthermore, it draws attention to the need for engaging in new discussions over the post-Lisbon Treaty Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the international fight against terrorism, and the way international actors cooperate and compete on the security arena. It will be of interest for both academics and practitioners working on EU foreign policy, transatlantic relations and international counter-terrorism. It will also be of interest for students and journalists specialized on European and international affairs.

This book was published as a special issue of European Security.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: The external dimension of the European Union’s counter-terrorism: an introduction to empirical and theoretical developments
2. The social construction of an EU interest in counter-terrorism: US influence and internal struggles in the cases of PNR and SWIFT
3. Counterterrorism cooperation in the transatlantic security community
4. The external dimension of EU counter-terrorism: the challenges of the European Parliament in front of the European Court of Justice
5. Stepping inside? CSDP missions and EU counter-terrorism
6. The EU as a global counter-terrorism actor in the making
7. Conclusion: assessing the external dimension of EU counter-terrorism ten years on
8. Epilogue - The Union, the World and Counter-Terrorism: How to Normalize the Extreme?