NCJ Number
230945
Date Published
2010
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines recent developments in police cooperation involving the United States and the European Union (EU) in counterterrorism (CT) matters.
Abstract
The author analyzes legal and institutional changes in both the United States and the EU, comparing them in three areas of common goals: information-sharing, leadership, and coordination. In the United States, several initiatives have aimed at preventing the "stove-piping" of CT intelligence (security agencies not sharing information horizontally with other agencies). These changes have facilitated the sharing of CT intelligence information among authorized agencies. In the EU, the issue of information-sharing pertains primarily to promoting the exchange of intelligence data among the CT authorities of the member states. In both the United States and EU, the development of new institutional structures for preventing the "stove-piping" of CT intelligence has been bolstered by new leadership positions. The chapter describes these new positions. In addition to its internal initiatives on CT, the EU has promoted an external dimension of its internal security policy that includes relations with the United States. The coordination of U.S.-EU cooperation in CT is discussed regarding the specific issues of container security in shipping, airline security, and travel documents. Policy convergence between the EU and United States can explain the productive partnership that has evolved between the EU and United States on CT since 9/11; for example, EU-U.S. relations regarding Europol have been the product of both sides seeing value in international liaison relationships and voluntary information-sharing arrangements. After 9/11, both sides also recognized the value in enhancing existing agreements on mutual legal assistance and extradition. The chapter concludes that transatlantic relations on CT will continue to be influenced mostly by policy convergence between the EU and United States. 11 notes