The Expansion of Counter-terrorism in the EU Post-9/11

: The Development of EU Aviation Security

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the European Union’s twenty-first century expansion of its counter-terrorism remit to include aviation security. The specific focus of the PhD is to examine the cause and effects of this development by considering the first decade of this new political competence. In doing so it fills a conspicuous gap in the literature – the absence of scholarly works on the role of the EU in aviation security especially those considering both the internal and external dimensions of this. It contributes to numerous areas of the existing literature specifically the fields of aviation security, counter-terrorism and EU politics. The thesis utilises a tri-fold theoretical framework consisting of: agenda setting and focusing events, neofunctionalism and spill-over, and supranational policy entrepreneurship. Both documentary analysis and elite interviewing are used to form the basis of the empirical analysis. The thesis considers the origins, development and organisation of the new competence. It also examines the EU efforts and the results of these – both in terms of the resulting policy output and the practical application of it. The findings of this enables the thesis to cover the issues of the creation of EU common basic standards, the commitment to compliance monitoring, the relationship between security and facilitation and the EU’s place as an aviation security actor in the international system.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Dundee
Supervisor	Christian Kaunert (Supervisor) & Sarah Leonard (Supervisor)