EU counterterrorism policy: A paper tiger?

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the European Union has acted on several fronts to reinforce its existing and nascent capabilities to combat terrorism. The European Council adopted a comprehensive Plan of Action and reached political agreement on a number of important counterterrorism initiatives, including the introduction of a European Arrest Warrant; strengthening of Europol and Eurojust; the drafting of a common EU definition of terrorism; and freezing of terrorist finances. This article provides a critical analysis of all these measures and reveals that the EU counterterrorism policy suffers from an implementation deficit, in large part due to the absence of genuine pro-integration thinking in the area of Justice and Home Affairs. The March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks in Madrid provided fresh impetus for enhancing the EU counterterrorism capabilities but a multitude of political, legal, and cultural challenges still need to be overcome in order to make the EU counterterrorism policy less of a paper tiger and more of an effective counterterrorism device.