Liberty versus security? EU asylum policy and the European Commission

The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) experienced significant developments during the Tampere programme (1999 – 2004). This article analyses how security is constituted or viewed by the European Union in the area of asylum policy; more importantly how the European Commission, in the face of the emerging discourse on the ‘war on terror’ decided to push for a more inclusive agenda. Thus, the European Commission can (though not always does) play a significant role in this process - the role of a supranational policy entrepreneur that enables the normative construction of a policy. The article analyses the high-profile case of the first phase of the CEAS, particularly the four main directives, its legal and political construction, and suggests the significance of the Commission in the political and normative process. Despite the challenges of the ‘war on terror’, the Commission managed to keep the CEAS within the limits of the Geneva Convention

Towards supranational governance in EU counter-terrorism? - The role of the Commission and the Council Secretariat

New security threats have emerged as major new areas of policy development in the European Union, especially during the 'war on terror'. This paper makes two significant points that counter theoretical expectations of EU counter-terrorism. Both are derived from an analysis of empirical events of EU practice. Firstly, it argues that it is vital to analyse EU institutional actor behaviour in the process of 'constructing security threats', especially when dealing with the responses to international terrorism. Secondly, despite the importance of member states in the European Union, institutional actors such as the European Commission or the Council Secretariat are increasingly gaining in importance. The Commission can (though not always does) play a significant role in this process - the role of a supranational policy entrepreneur. Yet, it is not alone in this - the Council Secretariat can also add to the notion of policy entrepreneurship at the EU level. This argument reveals shortcomings of intergovernmental understanding of European integration in the area of counter-terrorism. The paper analyses different dimensions of EU counter-terrorism, its legal and political construction, and demonstrates the significance of supranational policy entrepreneurs in the political adoption process

The European Union and refugees: towards more restrictive asylum policies in the European Union?

Several scholars have argued that European countries have decided to cooperate on asylum and migration matters at the EU level in order to develop more restrictive policies. In particular, it has been argued that European states have ‘venue-shopped’ to a new policy-venue in order to escape national constraints. This paper puts this argument to the test by assessing the extent to which the development of EU cooperation on asylum matters has indeed led to the adoption of more restrictive asylum standards. The paper argues that, actually, EU asylum cooperation has led to an overall increase in protection standards for asylum-seekers and refugees. This outcome is explained by two main factors: the increasing ‘judicialisation’ of asylum in the EU and institutional changes in the EU asylum policy area that have strengthened the role of more ‘refugee-friendly’ institutions

The governance of justice and internal security in Scotland: Between the Scottish independence referendum and British decisions on the EU

This article examines how the governance of justice and internal security in Scotland could be affected by the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014. The article argues that it is currently impossible to equate a specific result in the referendum with a given outcome for the governance of justice and internal security in Scotland. This is because of the complexities of the current arrangements in that policy area and the existence of several changes that presently affect them and are outside the control of the government and of the people of Scotland. This article also identifies an important paradox. In the policy domain of justice and internal security, a ‘no’ vote could, in a specific set of circumstances, actually lead to more changes than a victory of the ‘yes’ camp

Epistemic policy networks in the European Union’s CBRN risk mitigation policy

This paper offers insights into an innovative and currently flagship approach of the European Union (EU) to the mitigation of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) risks. Building on its long-time experience in the CBRN field, the EU has incorporated methods familiar to the students of international security governance: it is establishing regional networks of experts and expertise. CBRN Centers of Excellence, as they are officially called, aim to contribute to the security and safety culture in different parts of Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, and South East Europe, in the broadly construed CBRN area. These regional networks represent a modern form of security cooperation, which can be conceptualized as an epistemic policy networks approach. It offers flexibility to the participating states, which have different incentives to get involved. At the same, however, the paper identifies potential limitations and challenges of epistemic policy networks in this form

On regional security governance once again: how analysis of the Southern Caucasus can advance the concept

Already introduced to the academic and political debate some years ago, the concept of “security governance” still needs to be clarified. In particular, four main shortcomings need to be overcome to make the concept more useful for an assessment of current security dynamics: in the first place, attention has been devoted more to “governance” than to “security”, while failing to consider the role of the understandings and perceptions of the actors involved in the governance system. Second, the literature on the actors (governmental or not) involved is still fragmented. Third, the literature on security governance has too often been detached from reflections on regionalism, while it would be useful to further explore the relationship between cognitive definitions of regional and security dynamics. Fourth, the literature has predominantly focused on Europe and the transatlantic area, overlooking processes of “region-building” in security terms in other “unexpected” geographical spaces. After proposing avenues to overcome the current gaps in the literature, the Southern Caucasus is chosen as a case study to show the different instances of security governance emerging, thanks to definitions of the region in security terms that have involved regional and external actors, of a state and non-state nature

The area of freedom, security and justice in the Lisbon Treaty : Commission policy entrepreneurship

Scholars may rightly claim the European Union’s (EU) area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) has become one of the most significant developments in the European integration process. The Lisbon Treaty (LT) has the potential to push the AFSJ towards tremendous growth, and has provided the policy area with instruments that were unthinkable after the third pillar was created during the Maastricht Treaty negotiations. This article investigates the role of the European Commission in the process of constructing an ‘AFSJ’. It argues that the Commission (through alliances with other institutional actors) managed to incrementally contribute to this shift in political norms. This shift derived from the policy-making level from 1999 onwards. It manifested itself specifically during the negotiations of the Constitutional Treaty (CT) and the subsequent re-negotiation of the LT. Here, the Commission acted with the support and the use of other supranational actors during the Convention, without which this result would have been difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. Firstly, the article will deal with the main advances of the CTwhich resulted in the LT. Subsequently, the role of the Commission and other EU institutional actors will be examined, resulting in an overall evaluation

European internal security - towards supranational governance in the area of freedom, security and justice?

European institutions are either loathed or underestimated: this book analyses the role of EU institutions, especially the European Commission in an area which has seen tremendous growth over the last ten years – European internal security. From Justice and Home Affairs, this area has become more like a European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. In this process, the European Commission has demonstrably played the role of an ‘engine of integration’ in areas such a counter-terrorism, policing, asylum, migration and border management, internally and externally. This book analyses the role of EU Institutions in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. It uses the framework of supranational policy entrepreneurs (SPE), which is often referred to by the academic literature that discusses the role of agency in European integration and is grounded in the work of John Kingdon. The policy-making model starting with the identification of a problem (first stream), which is then followed by a search for alternative solutions (second stream) and a decision among these alternatives (third stream). Policy entrepreneurs stand at the policy window in order to propose, lobby for and sell ‘their’ policy proposal. Yet, this book takes this framework further by synthesising insights from the literature on norm entrepreneurship. This book fills a distinct gap in this scholarship on European internal security and EU policy-making. Although a growing body of literature has emerged that provides regional and thematic explorations of the EU Justice and Home Affairs, crucially, there is no book that addresses the entire Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). Furthermore, the existing literature on policies that we might classify as components of the AFSJ discusses them in isolation from one another. There are some excellent individual studies of asylum, migration, and police cooperation, but not of the entire Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). Because the idea of homeland security has been so controversial and difficult to approach, due to its perceived links to the Bush administration, the body of literature on the subject is rather limited. In the case of internal security literature, most of the work has been done in the United States and focused mostly on the American context. Therefore, scholars and practitioners interested in European internal security are forced to build synergies and draw conclusions by themselves. Within the internal security and terrorism literature, the European dimension to internal security is absent. Most books so far focus on the USA, the UK or individual countries, but not the European Union.This book will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners interested in European internal security, European integration, terrorism and security studies, and international relations and politics more broadl