Terrorism, Intelligence sharing and Cooperation in the European Union

Suta, Razvan-Gheorghe

10. term

Culture, Communication and Globalization. English

2016

2016-07-28

95

Terrorisme er blevet en voksende international trussel og får stadig mere opmærksomhed fra politiske beslutningstagere. Denne afhandling undersøger terrorisme i EU og fokuserer på Unionens indre sikkerhed. Andre trusler som grænseoverskridende kriminalitet nævnes kort, men hovedfokus er terrorisme. I de seneste år, især i de sidste to år, har EU oplevet flere terrorangreb. Målet er at identificere huller i Unionens indre sikkerhed, som gør det vanskeligere at gennemføre modforanstaltninger mod terror. Undersøgelsen tager udgangspunkt i, at bedre informationsdeling og samarbejde mellem medlemsstaternes nationale sikkerhedstjenester og EU’s sikkerhedsrelaterede organer—som Europol (EU’s politisamarbejdsagentur) og INTCEN (EU’s enhed for efterretningsanalyse)—er afgørende for at håndtere den indre sikkerhed og bekæmpe terrorisme. Som kontrast drøfter afhandlingen også forslag om et overnationalt sikkerhedsorgan, ofte omtalt som en europæisk efterretningstjeneste, som en alternativ måde at styre informationsstrømme og indre sikkerhed på. Resultaterne er todelte. For det første fremsættes en hypotese: Niveauet af informationsdeling og samarbejde påvirkes af tillid mellem aktørerne og af hensynet til national suverænitet (hver stats kontrol over egne sikkerhedsbeslutninger). For det andet udvikles et sæt kriterier, der kan bruges til at vurdere, hvor realistisk ideen om en europæisk efterretningstjeneste er. Ved at pege på de egenskaber og kapaciteter, en sådan organisation ville have brug for, hjælper undersøgelsen potentielle initiativtagere med at bedømme, hvilke kapaciteter der er realistiske nu, og om etableringen er mulig.

Terrorism has become a growing international threat and is drawing increasing attention from political decision-makers. This thesis examines terrorism within the European Union and focuses on the EU’s internal security. Other threats such as cross-border crime are noted briefly, but the main focus is terrorism. In recent years—especially in the last two years—the EU has seen more frequent terrorist attacks. The aim is to identify gaps in the Union’s internal security that make it harder to implement counter-terrorism measures. The study starts from the premise that better information sharing and cooperation between national security services and EU security-related bodies—such as Europol (the EU’s law-enforcement agency) and INTCEN (the EU’s intelligence analysis unit)—are essential to managing internal security and tackling terrorism. As a contrast, the thesis also discusses proposals for a supranational security body, often described as a European secret service, as an alternative way to manage information flows and internal security. The findings are twofold. First, they propose a hypothesis: the level of information sharing and cooperation is shaped by trust between actors and by national sovereignty (each state’s control over its own security decisions). Second, the thesis develops a set of criteria that can be used to assess how realistic the idea of a European secret service is. By highlighting the attributes and capabilities such an organisation would require, the study helps potential initiators judge which capabilities are feasible now and whether establishing such a body is possible.

[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)