Conclusion: assessing the external dimension of EU counter-terrorism – ten years on

Abstract

This special issue has investigated the external dimension of European Union's (EU) counter-terrorism in much more detail than ever before. EU's counter-terrorism policy has been criticized on various grounds, ranging from questioning its efficiency, to coherence and implementation. On the one hand, the EU is characterized as a ‘paper tiger’, while, on the other hand, scholars point out that the EU has taken great strides toward increasing integration and encouraging cooperation between member states since 9/11. This underlines the complexity of the security environment, shaped by the threat of terrorism, in which the EU functions. Despite those efforts to provide a direction and achieve more concerted European action in the field of security, there are still many unanswered questions. Following the 11 March 2004 attacks on Madrid, which killed almost 200 people, the EU underlined the importance of deepening the international consensus to combat terrorism, which made it an increasing actor in global counter-terrorism efforts. The excellent articles in this special issue are testimony to the importance of analysing these developments.