EU security and counter-terrorism policies and human rights

Abstract

Numerous terrorist attacks both within and outside the European Union (EU or the Union) have prompted the Union to increasingly act in the field of counter-terrorism. Since the adoption of the Union’s counter-terrorism strategy in 2005, the Union’s action in relation to counter-terrorism has been based on four connected pillars: to prevent, to protect, to pursue, and to respond. A general trend in the Union’s counter-terrorism action has been a move towards a pre-emptive approach, where the focus lies on countering terrorism threats in advance. The aim of this chapter is to discuss whether the adoption of these pre-emptive measures strengthen the security landscape of the Union. The chapter thus takes a closer look at how the Union strives to detect persons planning or preparing terrorist offences, and to hinder actual attacks from taking place. In particular, attention is paid to the EU’s police and judicial cooperation, general surveillance, the criminalisation of preparatory terrorist offences, and cooperation with third states and international organisations. A central objective is also to assess how the various counter-terrorism measures concur with international human rights law, including the Union’s legal framework on data protection.