Terrorism

Abstract

This chapter discusses whether and how the European Union is governing the internal and external dimensions of terrorist threats and shaping counter-terrorism policies in response to that threat. Specifically, the chapter elaborates on the different instruments that the EU has progressively developed and made available to member states to fight terrorism despite institutional, legal, and political constraints. Overall, the chapter shows that cooperation and the development of cooperative initiatives have been the core efforts of the EU. Indeed, while EU counter-terrorism governance is still largely dependent on member states, through internal and external forms of cooperation, the EU has managed to fulfil and develop key and independent governing features.