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From 9/11 to Da'esh: What Role for the High Representative and the External Dimension of EU Counter-Terrorism Policies?

03/09/2015

Under certain conditions, such as security crises, an integrated external EU counter-terrorism policy can emerge without leading to the supra-nationalisation of policy-making. This paper analyses the role of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy with the objective of assessing the influence that such figure can have on the governance of EU counter-terrorism policies. It does so by assessing the EU’s response to three security crises, namely: the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent bombings in Madrid (2004) and London (2005); the Arab Spring and the following destabilisation of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA); and the emergence and spread of Da’esh.

Paper prepared for the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), September 2015. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the workshop “Euro-Mediterranean Security: Can New Dynamism Be Injected in the EU Mediterranean Policy?”, held at the Institute of European Studies of the University of Malta on 13 May 2015.