Bring them into the fold. Local actors and transnational governance of preventive counterterrorism in the European Union

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ABSTRACT The violent attacks of 9/11 marked a pivotal moment in global counter-terrorism, catalyzing a new consensus on terrorism that led to a global “preventive turn” in counter-terrorism policy, particularly embraced in Europe. Preventive approaches, widely accepted by national governments and strongly promoted by EU institutions, eventually became a central pillar of its internal security strategy. While considerable attention has been paid to the institutional development of EU preventive counter-terrorism, less focus has been given to the mechanisms through which the EU enlists the necessary actors for implementation, as well as the motivations driving their collaboration. This paper seeks to shed light on dynamics of indirect transnational governance and local actor enlistment that underpin EU governance. Firstly, drawing on orchestration theory, the paper argues that by championing preventive measures-more easily accepted by Member States because they align with social rather than security policy objectives-the EU has successfully expanded its governance capabilities. Importantly, the EU compensates its lack of direct access to the field by relying instead on the enlistment of local national actors for implementation. Secondly, the paper analyses the main ideational and material incentives the EU uses to enlist local actors for implementation: socialization, knowledge diffusion and financing.