The European Union Counter-terrorism Coordinator and the External Dimension of the European Union Counter-terrorism Policy

Abstract

The post of European Union (EU) counter-terrorism coordinator (CTC) has often been seen as ineffectual. However, this article argues that such a critical assessment of the post of EU CTC is due to a significant extent to an over-emphasis on the internal dimension of the EU CTC's activities. Consequently, it suggests focusing on the external dimension of the EU CTC's work, which has often been largely overlooked. For that purpose, it develops an international actorness analytical framework. On that basis, the article demonstrates that, despite the limitations inherent to this post, the EU CTC is already significantly advanced in the process of establishing himself as a fully-fledged counter-terrorism actor on the international stage. Evidence shows that he is increasingly considered an important component of the external dimension of the EU counter-terrorism policy by both member states and third states and bodies.

Key words:

• Actorness
• EU counter-terrorism coordinator (CTC)
• effectiveness
• EU counter-terrorism policy
• external dimension

Acknowledgement

Research for this article was supported by two Marie Curie Career Integration Grants within the Seventh European Community Framework Programme, which have been awarded to Christian Kaunert and Sarah Léonard respectively.