THE POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ON THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM: THE ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION LEGISLATION AND SOME NATIONAL ANTITERRORISM PROGRAMMES

Abstract

Terrorist attacks strike not only the victims, their friends and families, but also the fun­damental principles of the European Union. The choice of the topic of the article is caused by the fact that today the European Union recognizes money laundering, terrorist financing and international terrorism as some of the main threats to its financial system and citizens’ security. The purpose of the article is to analyze the main directions of activities and decisions of the European Union in this area. The methodological basis of the work consists of both general scientific and special meth­ods of scientific knowledge. The EU legislation in the sphere of counter-terrorism was investi­gated using the analytical method, the method of abstraction gave an opportunity to assess the general current state of legal regulation of the fight against terrorism. The use of the compara­tive legal approach made it possible to analyze the national antiterrorist programmes of chosen European countries. The logical legal method was applied when formulating conclusions and proposals. The article deals with the issues related to the legal aspects of the fight against internation­al terrorism. The paper investigates the steps taken by the European Union, i.e., the adoption of resolutions and strategies, the signing of treaties, the creation of institutions that function with the purpose to combat and prevent terrorist attacks, which are the constituents of the general concept of the antiterrorist system. The authors indicate the most important treaty provisions and institutions as well as their development and influence on the system of the fight against terrorism by the European Union. The purpose of the article is to analyze the main directions of activities and decisions of the European Union in this area. It has been investigated that the external activities of the EU include the support of countries in improving their judicial systems and the potential of law enforcement authorities as well as the integration of European antiter­rorist legislation into their security strategies. In the studied countries, the systematic approach to the fight against terrorism is clearly visible.