The Role of the European Institutions in Homeland Security.

The concept of ‘Homeland Security’ is becoming increasingly evident in the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ), which is defined as ‘the protection of a clearly defined territory of a political community from security threats’. However, this political community is still in the making in the European Union. Consequently, this policy-making area in the EU is characterised by the most complex of decision-making procedures. This paper argues that these institutional arrangements are not just an expression of the national sovereignty of member states. They are also an expression of the aforementioned political process attempting to construct a ‘homeland’ for different political communities by ensuring their security from external security threats. Firstly, it will argue that it is vital to analyse actor behaviour in the process of ‘constructing security threats’. Secondly, however, despite the importance of member states in the European Union, institutional actors such as the European Commission or the Council Secretariat are increasingly gaining in importance. This paper argues that institutional actors have been vital in the construction of a ‘European Homeland Security’ area. Since September 11, the first and foremost security threat to enable the construction of a ‘European Homeland’ has been terrorism. It is argued that the construction of this ‘security threat’ has been utilised by EU institutions in order to establish the creation and the securing of a ‘European Homeland’, which ultimately drove forward the process of European integration. This can be observed empirically in counter-terrorism policy within the EU, as well as in transatlantic cooperation with the US on this matter. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]