Terrorism, Intelligence sharing and Cooperation in the European Union

Suta, Razvan-Gheorghe

10. term

Culture, Communication and Globalization. English

2016

2016-07-28

95

I de sidste to år er terror blevet mere udbredt og presserende i EU. Dette speciale undersøger EU’s interne sikkerhed – altså de tiltag, der skal beskytte borgerne inden for Unionens grænser – med særligt fokus på terrorisme. Andre trusler som grænseoverskridende kriminalitet nævnes kort, men er ikke i centrum. Formålet er at pege på huller i EU’s interne sikkerhed, der gør det svært at gennemføre effektive modforanstaltninger. Udgangspunktet er, at bedre informationsdeling og tættere samarbejde mellem medlemsstaternes sikkerheds- og efterretningstjenester og EU’s organer (fx Europol og INTCEN, EU’s efterretnings- og situationscenter) er afgørende for at håndtere truslen. Som alternativ diskuterer specialet også forslaget om en overnational sikkerhedsstruktur – en egentlig europæisk efterretningstjeneste – der kunne styre informationsstrømme og koordinering på tværs af lande. Undersøgelsen peger på to hovedfund. For det første fremsættes en hypotese om, at graden af informationsdeling og samarbejde påvirkes af tillidsrelationer mellem aktørerne og af hensynet til national suverænitet. For det andet opstilles et sæt kriterier, der kan bruges til at vurdere, hvor realistisk en europæisk efterretningstjeneste er lige nu. Ved at beskrive de nødvendige egenskaber og kapaciteter kan beslutningstagere se, hvad der er opnåeligt på nuværende tidspunkt – og dermed om etablering er mulig.

In the last two years, terrorism has become a more frequent and pressing issue within the European Union. This thesis examines the EU’s internal security—that is, measures to protect people within the Union’s borders—with a particular focus on terrorism. Other threats, such as cross-border crime, are noted but are not central. The aim is to identify gaps in the EU’s internal security that make it difficult to implement effective countermeasures. The starting point is that improved information sharing and closer cooperation between national security and intelligence services and EU-level bodies (such as Europol and INTCEN, the EU Intelligence and Situation Centre) are critical to managing the threat. As a contrasting option, the thesis also discusses proposals for a supranational security structure—essentially a European intelligence service—that could manage information flows and coordination across countries. The research points to two main findings. First, it advances a hypothesis that the extent of information sharing and cooperation is shaped by trust between actors and by concerns about national sovereignty. Second, it sets out a set of criteria that can be used to assess how realistic a European intelligence service is at present. By outlining the required attributes and capabilities, decision-makers can see which are achievable now—and thus whether establishment is feasible.

[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]

Terrorism, Counter Terrorism, Intelligence sharing, Cooperation, European Union, Internal security

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Suta, Razvan-Gheorghe:

• Terrorism, Intelligence sharing and Cooperation in the European Union (2016)