The collective securitisation of terrorism in the European Union

Kaunert, Christian; Leonard, Sarah

Abstract

This article explores the recent and significant growth of European Union cooperation on counter-terrorism by drawing upon the concept of ‘collective securitisation’. It highlights how 9/11 was a precipitating event, one which led some EU leaders to call upon the member states to develop an EU counter-terrorism policy and to step up counter-terrorism cooperation with the United States. Various counter-terrorism legislative instruments have since been adopted, defining terrorist acts and having a significant impact on national counter-terrorism policies. 9/11 was therefore used by some actors to convince the EU member states that they all faced one collective terrorist threat, embodied at the time by al-Qaeda, rather than each of them facing a distinctive threat as had hitherto been a common view across Europe. This was a crucial moment, in other words, paving the way for the development of a common EU counter-terrorism policy. The subsequent institutionalisation of this cooperation, in particular through the establishment of the European Arrest Warrant, the Counter Terrorism Coordinator and the European Counter Terrorism Centre within Europol, has contributed to a routinisation of counter-terrorism practices in the EU.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 10, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Nov 26, 2018
• Publication Date: Feb 23, 2019
• Deposit Date: Nov 12, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: May 27, 2020
• Journal: West European Politics
• Print ISSN: 0140-2382
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-9655
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 261-277
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2018.1510194
• Keywords: European Union, securitization, collective securitization, terrorism, 9/11
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/856840
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2018.1510194
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in West European Politics on 26th November 2018, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2018.1510194.
• Contract Date: Nov 12, 2018