Samenvatting

Recent developments in the aftermath of several terrorist attacks in European Member States have caused uncertainty and disorder. Although measures have been taken, terrorism seems to be always one step ahead, inciting fear. Increased cooperation between Member States is necessary. Yet, it is not happening. Starting from such premise, this research aims to shed light on the challenges the Member States faced and still face and why it is difficult to improve cooperation on sharing intelligence. To this end, the research question is as follows: What are the challenges for Member States for the improvement of cooperation in intelligence sharing and the fight against terrorism? As a result, an evaluation of the different findings in this dissertation concludes that cooperation fundamentally thrives on trust. Firstly, it is concluded that a ‘European FBI’ would not be a possible integration project for Europol. Secondly, a supranational approach of a common Intelligence Agency is far from becoming a reality due to the sovereignty of the national state and the lack of trust. Hence, this research suggests continuation of support to Member States and their national governments in order to improve existing measures and actions close to the operational field. It recommends the European Union to shift its focus from creating a centralized European Intelligence Agency and pushing Member States to share their intelligence towards a situation in which the Union supports Member States. If the EU wants Member States to cooperate, the level of trust needs to be increased. This can be done through a ‘bottom-up’ approach initiated by Member States themselves, instead of a ‘top-down’ initiative that is pushed by the European Union.

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