Samenvatting

This dissertation is focused on three main topics, namely judicial cooperation in the European Union, the European Arrest Warrant and the European Union Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The recent rise in terrorist threats emphasises the need for a European Union that cooperates closely, which in turn makes it important to establish how these three main topics interact and what obstacles terrorist threats pose for the European Arrest Warrant in the judicial cooperation framework.
This examination is carried out through a combination of literature research and qualitative expert interviews. In the Literature Review section, a theoretical framework is established by analysing the three main topics and the most relevant concepts within each. The legal bases together with challenges and relevant actors are explained through the examination of primary and secondary sources.

The qualitative expert interviews are laid down in the Results section. Here, the three main topics are linked to each other and to terrorist threats. The most relevant findings from this chapter are combined with the results from the Literature Review in the Discussion where discrepancies and similarities are observed and analysed.
It is concluded that terrorist threats do not pose an obstacle to the European Arrest Warrant in the judicial cooperation framework, as terrorist threats lead to situations where the Member States are more inclined to cooperate and act in a more flexible manner regarding the laws and regulations.

Obstacles concerning the European Arrest Warrant and judicial cooperation can be found in a lack of mutual trust. In the course of this dissertation it becomes apparent that differing interpretation is one of the identifiable barriers when it comes to trust between Member States. Although this is not specifically related to terrorist threats, it lies at the basis of judicial cooperation since mutual trust is needed for the driving force of judicial cooperation – mutual recognition. In this way, issues with the principle of mutual trust eventually have consequences for the whole scope of judicial cooperation and therefore also for the European Arrest Warrant.

In order to overcome the divide in terms of mutual trust, it is suggested that Member States enhance their mutual understanding about each other’s judicial apparatuses. Institutions of the European Union, such as Eurojust, are important actors in this regard and should be given a more substantial role.