The added value of a European Intelligence Unit in the field of Counter-Terrorism
(2018) STVM23 20181Department of Political Science
- Abstract (Swedish)
- A perpetual series of terror attacks have caused the European Union to shake in its foundations. In the face of the escalating transnational threat of terrorism, decision-makers, under severe public pressure, have repeatedly called for deeper international intelligence cooperation. A bold idea currently being debated is the establishment of a new European Intelligence Unit (EIU) in the field of counter-terrorism(CT). Previous research, however, shows that in past instances although similar calls for deepened cooperation have resulted in the adoption of policy, its outcome has been far underneath initial ambitions. The latter also hinting towards the existence of the politicization of intelligence phenomenon which suggests that... (More)
- A perpetual series of terror attacks have caused the European Union to shake in its foundations. In the face of the escalating transnational threat of terrorism, decision-makers, under severe public pressure, have repeatedly called for deeper international intelligence cooperation. A bold idea currently being debated is the establishment of a new European Intelligence Unit (EIU) in the field of counter-terrorism(CT). Previous research, however, shows that in past instances although similar calls for deepened cooperation have resulted in the adoption of policy, its outcome has been far underneath initial ambitions. The latter also hinting towards the existence of the politicization of intelligence phenomenon which suggests that decision-makers under public pressure tend to adopt policy whilst neglecting the antithetical advice of intelligence practitioners thereby contributing to the generation of distorted and sub-optimal policy. Considering that according to the TFEU whilst national security remains a prerogative of Member States, EU level policy could be adopted taken that it adds value to national efforts in ensuring said security, this study aimed to objectively contribute to the policy debate on a future ‘EIU’ in order to potentially benefit the optimization and added value of future legislation. For the purpose, Björn Fägersten’s theoretical model of explaining international intelligence cooperation in combination with Björn Muller-Wille’s criteria for what constitutes as functional added value again in the context of intelligence cooperation, were applied to the most recent CT developments in the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol). The latter was done in order to estimate the contemporary added value provided by the agency in addition to observing why said value is provided, i.e. what the factors affecting the policy outcome are. Then, the evidence produced was used to hypothetically suggest measures for the optimization and added value of future legislation regarding an EIU.
Results show that even in the recent developments Europol does not meet the added value criteria as there is a miss-match between policy and outcome due to the presence of substantial cooperative barriers and insufficient enabling factors. Although the presence of the latter also renders the establishment of an EIU obsolete in a contemporary setting, the study concludes, that provided such barriers are mitigated and enabling factors increased in the interim, the establishment of an EIU for CT, under certain measures, in the far future could provide substantial added value. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8955734
- author
- Genchev, Yoan LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- STVM23 20181
- year
- 2018
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Counter-Terrorism, International Intelligence Cooperation, Europol, Politicization of Intelligence, European Intelligence Unit
- language
- English
- id
- 8955734
- date added to LUP
- 2018-09-17 12:22:03
- date last changed
- 2018-09-17 12:22:03
@misc{8955734,
abstract = {{A perpetual series of terror attacks have caused the European Union to shake in its foundations. In the face of the escalating transnational threat of terrorism, decision-makers, under severe public pressure, have repeatedly called for deeper international intelligence cooperation. A bold idea currently being debated is the establishment of a new European Intelligence Unit (EIU) in the field of counter-terrorism(CT). Previous research, however, shows that in past instances although similar calls for deepened cooperation have resulted in the adoption of policy, its outcome has been far underneath initial ambitions. The latter also hinting towards the existence of the politicization of intelligence phenomenon which suggests that decision-makers under public pressure tend to adopt policy whilst neglecting the antithetical advice of intelligence practitioners thereby contributing to the generation of distorted and sub-optimal policy. Considering that according to the TFEU whilst national security remains a prerogative of Member States, EU level policy could be adopted taken that it adds value to national efforts in ensuring said security, this study aimed to objectively contribute to the policy debate on a future ‘EIU’ in order to potentially benefit the optimization and added value of future legislation. For the purpose, Björn Fägersten’s theoretical model of explaining international intelligence cooperation in combination with Björn Muller-Wille’s criteria for what constitutes as functional added value again in the context of intelligence cooperation, were applied to the most recent CT developments in the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol). The latter was done in order to estimate the contemporary added value provided by the agency in addition to observing why said value is provided, i.e. what the factors affecting the policy outcome are. Then, the evidence produced was used to hypothetically suggest measures for the optimization and added value of future legislation regarding an EIU.
Results show that even in the recent developments Europol does not meet the added value criteria as there is a miss-match between policy and outcome due to the presence of substantial cooperative barriers and insufficient enabling factors. Although the presence of the latter also renders the establishment of an EIU obsolete in a contemporary setting, the study concludes, that provided such barriers are mitigated and enabling factors increased in the interim, the establishment of an EIU for CT, under certain measures, in the far future could provide substantial added value.}},
author = {{Genchev, Yoan}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The added value of a European Intelligence Unit in the field of Counter-Terrorism}},
year = {{2018}},
}