Mark Rhinard | Stockholm University (original) (raw)

Journal articles by Mark Rhinard

The securitization of health concerns within the European Union has hitherto received scant atten... more The securitization of health concerns within the European Union has hitherto received scant attention compared to other sectors. Drawing on the conceptual toolbox of actor-network theory, this article examines how a 'health security assemblage' rooted in EU governance has emerged, expanded, and stabilized. At the heart of this assemblage lies a particular knowledge regime, known as epidemic intelligence (EI): a vigilance-oriented approach of early detection and containment drawing on web-scanning tools and other informal sources. Despite its differences compared to entrenched traditions in public health, EI has, in only a decade's time, gained central importance at the EU level. EI is simultaneously constituted by, and performative of, a particular understanding of health security problems. By 'following the actor', this article seeks to account for how EI has made the hunt for potential health threats so central that detection and containment, rather than prevention, have become the preferred policy options. This article draws out some of the implications of this shift.

Journal of European Integration, 2019

The extent to which the European Commission exercises ‘political’ roles in European integration i... more The extent to which the European Commission exercises ‘political’
roles in European integration is very much up for debate. Some
recent analyses of the Commission take it for granted that its
political roles have been in decline, while others have suggested
they have increased – especially under the current President of the
Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who was appointed in 2014 by
a much more politicised process than had been used previously
and whose College has sought to present itself as being guided by
a political mission and as offering political leadership to the EU. In
this article, we aim to show that in the debate about the political
roles of the Commission, ‘political’ has often been poorly defined
and operationalised. By drawing on Public Administration scholarship,
we offer a framework for analysing how and where in the EU
system the Commission’s political roles might become manifest.
We then assess empirically these roles in different functions the
Commission undertakes.

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2019

In recent years a subtle change has taken place in the policy-making machinery shaping European i... more In recent years a subtle change has taken place in the policy-making machinery shaping European integration. The traditional methods for producing collective European Union (EU) policies, typified by the extensive analysis of a problem, extended phases of consultation with stakeholders, the deliberate cultivation of support for proposals, occasional decision-making moments and their long-term implementation, now share space with what is best described as crisis oriented methods for arriving at collective decisions. These methods prioritize the early identification of the next crisis, specific kinds of actors and technologies, abbreviated decision-making procedures and new narratives on the raison d’etre of European integration. This article treats this development as a kind of crisisification of EU policy-making – a change in the processes by which collective decisions are made – and explores its implications for practice and research by drawing on both classical EU studies approaches and insights from critical security studies.

West European Politics, 2019

Global health governance has increasingly become articulated and acted upon in ways that emphasis... more Global health governance has increasingly become articulated and acted
upon in ways that emphasise ‘health security’. This article applies a collective
securitisation approach to understand how a particular governance regime
has evolved at the European level, one concerned with large-scale ‘threats’ to
public health and societies at large. The analysis shows that alongside elitelevel
securitisation moves, transnational professional networks and bureaucratic
actors have also taken part both as securitising agents and audience,
with outcomes reflected not only in policy change but also new EU-specific
surveillance technologies, institutional structures, and information-sharing
platforms. While these developments are partially interlinked with global
trends, we show that the EU has gradually institutionalised its own approach
to health security. This new status quo is enshrined in a legal framework and
set of practices with an all-hazards approach targeting preparedness, early
detection and containment of ‘serious cross-border threats to health’ of any
origin – beyond infectious disease.

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2016

In the academic debate on the relative powers and influence of the EU institutions, it has become... more In the academic debate on the relative powers and influence of the EU institutions, it has become common to suggest – especially in the case of advocates of the 'new intergovernmentalism' – that the European Commission is in decline. In this article we show that while in some limited respects this is indeed the case, the Commission's overall position in the EU system is not one of having become a weaker institutional actor. The extent of the losses of its powers and influence tends to be exaggerated, while in some aspects its powers and influence have actually been strengthened. We show this by focusing on three of the Commission's core functions – agenda-setter, legislative actor and executive – all of which are widely portrayed as being in decline. We incorporate into our analysis both the formal and informal resources available to the Commission in exercising the functions.

This article critically examines a poorly understood aspect of the European security landscape: e... more This article critically examines a poorly understood aspect of the European security landscape: early warning systems (EWSs). EWSs are socio-technical systems designed to detect, analyse, and disseminate knowledge on potential security issues in a wide variety of sectors. We first present an empirical overview of more than 80 EWS in the European Union. We then draw on debates in Critical Security Studies to help us make sense of the role of such systems, tapping into conceptual debates on the construction of security issues as either "threat" or "risk" related. Finally, we study one EWSthe Early Warning and Response System for infectious diseasesto understand how it works and how it reconciles riskversus threat-based security logics. Contrary to assumptions of a clear distinction between risk-and threat-based logics of security, we show that EWSs may serve as a "transmission belt" for the movement of issues from risk into threats.

European Security, 2013

This introduction argues for a new research agenda on European internal security cooperation from... more This introduction argues for a new research agenda on European internal security cooperation from the perspective of public goods. We set out our case in three parts. First, we identify new empirical puzzles and demonstrate significant explanatory gaps in the existing internal security literature which public goods theory could help address. Second, we outline the building blocks of a public goods approach and provide an overview of its application, both existing and potentially, in various areas of regional security and European integration. Third, we present three complementary ways of using public goods theory to analyse internal security in the European Union, with the aim of spurring new research questions while accepting some limitations of this theoretical approach.

European Security, 2012

After the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, the European Union (EU) staked its claim as an imp... more After the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, the European Union (EU) staked its claim as an important international player in the fight against global terrorism. The EU encouraged new initiatives at the United Nations and devoted newfound
attention to aid and assistance programs to third states. The EU’s ambitions and heightened activity prompts a number of questions about rhetoric versus action and offers a useful test case for assessing the quality of the EU’s ‘actorness’. This article applies the actorness concept to shed light on the EU’s behaviour in global counter-terrorism activities. It draws together existing insights on actorness into an analytical framework containing four sets of variables
context, coherence, capability and consistency
and applies the framework to evidence gathered on the EU’s international and third country role in countering terrorism. Our results show that the actorness approach sheds considerable light on the EU’s international behaviour in global counter-terrorism and suggests the EU has some way to go before becoming a full actor in this area.

Global Health Governance, 2011

Security Strategy broadened the scope of threats facing the continent to include pandemic influen... more Security Strategy broadened the scope of threats facing the continent to include pandemic influenza. Identifying an influenza pandemic as a security threat, however, is relatively easily done. More challenging is to act upon that designation, through implementing security strategies in practice and managing governance processes in multi-level governance systems. Drawing upon securitization theory and traditional implementation theory, this article compares the extent to which the EU and the US have turned words into action on pandemic preparation. The findings show that increasingly securitized rhetoric following the H5N1 and H1N1 outbreaks has indeed been followed by new policies, structures, and operational capacities. As such, the article provides preliminary evidence that securitizing a public policy problem can increase political leverage over administrative processes of implementation.

European Political Science Review, 2010

This paper illuminates a critical stage of the implementation of European law: the transposition ... more This paper illuminates a critical stage of the implementation of European law: the transposition of European Union (EU) directives. Directives must be transposed into national policies in order to give effect to European law, yet most national authorities experience considerable transposition difficulties. For this reason, the study of transposition has become a focal point within the broader research agenda on noncompliance in the European Union. Highlighting several popular explanatory variables but noting the sometimes contradictory results that follow from empirical testing, this paper outlines an approach that views transposition as a process taking place largely within ministerial agencies rather than across government systems. By using variables related to these domestic processes in our empirical analysis, the paper shows how such an approach can help to explain the way in which member states transpose EU directives.

Cooperation and Conflict, 2009

The central contention of this article holds that scholars do not adequately assess and explain t... more The central contention of this article holds that scholars do not adequately assess and explain the influence of transboundary security issues ongovernment behaviour. Their assessment is not adequate becausethey do not fully conceptualize the relationship between internal andexternal security concerns. Their explanations
are not adequate becauseexisting theories cannot fully explain how and why states respond totransboundary security issues. To rectify these concerns, stimulate andstructure further research, and encourage scholarly dialogue, we buildan analytical framework for (a) understanding what we describe as the‘nexus’ of internal and external security matters, and (b) explaining why that nexus may change state behaviour on transboundary security issues.The resulting framework encourages a strong focus on the nature of transboundary problems before studying their implications for changesin perceptions, policies, politics and polity.

Review of Policy Research, 2009

As crises grow more transnational in origin and effect, managing them effectively will require in... more As crises grow more transnational in origin and effect, managing them effectively will require international cooperation. This article explores the dilemmas inherent to producing common crisis management capacities across national governments. Drawing on the literature related to “international public goods,” the article builds an approach for understanding these dilemmas through the lens of collective action and the perverse incentives associated therein. The article applies this approach to cooperation in Europe on an issue that typifies the transnational crisis—the spread of communicable disease—and highlights obstacles to European Union ambitions to build a robust system for disease surveillance and control. Having isolated the obstacles, the article then identifies solutions to facilitate cooperation toward more effectively producing the good in question.

Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2000

In the face of modern crises, the European Union (EU) has increased its efforts to build common c... more In the face of modern crises, the European Union (EU) has increased its efforts to build common crisis management capacity across the continent. As the EU seeks to both coordinate national crisis and disaster authorities and build its own supranational capacities, it is worth asking whether the EU is capable of designing an effective European homeland security apparatus that will fit member state expectations as well as its unique supranational character. In this article, we apply a bureaucratic politics perspective to explore and assess how the EU's governance structures and policymaking processes constrain and facilitate its efforts to build transnational crisis management capacity. We discuss how institutional and policymaking characteristics may affect the EU's ongoing effort to enhance security and safety for the inhabitants of European states.

International Studies Review, 2008

The nation-state faces an increasing number of what we refer to as “transboundary threats.” A tra... more The nation-state faces an increasing number of what we refer to as “transboundary threats.” A transboundary threat is characterized by the potential to cross geographical and functional boundaries. These characteristics outstrip the capacity of nation-states and national bureaucracies that were designed to deal with more classic threats. The institutional challenge, we argue, is to build effective transboundary systems for managing these complex threats. In this essay, we ask what role the European Union can play in such an endeavor. We document the EU’s growing crisis management and security capacities and offer an initial assessment of these capacities. We surmise that the EU will play a significant but rather circumscribed role, one which reflects the EU’s unique system of supranational governance.

Journal of European Public Policy, 2006

Agenda-setting in the EU takes place in two ways: ‘from above’through high-level political instit... more Agenda-setting in the EU takes place in two ways: ‘from above’through high-level political institutions urging EU action, and ‘from below’through policy experts formulating specific proposals in low-level groups andworking parties. This article formulates a theoretical framework for understanding the differences between these two processes. Moreover, it shows how they may inter-act and become intertwined in the course of actual agenda-setting processes. Theutility of the approach is demonstrated in two contrasting case studies: one of EU anti-smoking policy and one of EU anti-bioterrorism policy.

Journal of European Integration, 2006

Recent organizational, institutional and policy developments signal a newtype of co–operative pol... more Recent organizational, institutional and policy developments signal a newtype of co–operative policy activity at the European level and suggest the emergence of a new policy space in the European Union. What binds together the activities in thatspace is a common concern for the protection of the EU citizen. This new policy spacecrosses sectoral boundaries, draws in a number of governmental and societal actors, andcomprises a variety of institutional venues. Moreover, its dimensions span the internaland external divide in EU policies. This article serves as an introduction to a special issueon the topic of the EU’s emerging protection policy space. It first discusses the empiricalparameters of this emerging space, before outlining a set of research questions andsurveying the theoretical landscape for addressing these questions. It concludes by intro-ducing the articles that comprise the special issue.

Governance-an International Journal of Policy Administration and Institutions, 2002

This article investigates both the operation and the democratic legitimacy of the European Union ... more This article investigates both the operation and the democratic legitimacy of the European Union committee system. This vast but rarely studied system is an important site of European governance, exercising an increasing amount of policy responsibility while also providing the essential arenas necessary for supranational problem solving. Despite their contribution to the success of the "European project," committees are increasingly coming under attack, notably for their lack of democratic credentials. The article employs original empirical research based on interviews and internal documentary evidence to answer a timely question: does the EU committee system strike an appropriate balance between the values of system effectiveness and democratic legitimacy? Following the application of a set of democratic principles to EU committees, the article finds that a poor balance has been struck between effectiveness and democracy. The article concludes with some operational suggestions for improving this balance in the short-to-medium term.

Papers by Mark Rhinard

The securitization of health concerns within the European Union has hitherto received scant atten... more The securitization of health concerns within the European Union has hitherto received scant attention compared to other sectors. Drawing on the conceptual toolbox of actor-network theory, this article examines how a 'health security assemblage' rooted in EU governance has emerged, expanded, and stabilized. At the heart of this assemblage lies a particular knowledge regime, known as epidemic intelligence (EI): a vigilance-oriented approach of early detection and containment drawing on web-scanning tools and other informal sources. Despite its differences compared to entrenched traditions in public health, EI has, in only a decade's time, gained central importance at the EU level. EI is simultaneously constituted by, and performative of, a particular understanding of health security problems. By 'following the actor', this article seeks to account for how EI has made the hunt for potential health threats so central that detection and containment, rather than prevention, have become the preferred policy options. This article draws out some of the implications of this shift.

Journal of European Integration, 2019

The extent to which the European Commission exercises ‘political’ roles in European integration i... more The extent to which the European Commission exercises ‘political’
roles in European integration is very much up for debate. Some
recent analyses of the Commission take it for granted that its
political roles have been in decline, while others have suggested
they have increased – especially under the current President of the
Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who was appointed in 2014 by
a much more politicised process than had been used previously
and whose College has sought to present itself as being guided by
a political mission and as offering political leadership to the EU. In
this article, we aim to show that in the debate about the political
roles of the Commission, ‘political’ has often been poorly defined
and operationalised. By drawing on Public Administration scholarship,
we offer a framework for analysing how and where in the EU
system the Commission’s political roles might become manifest.
We then assess empirically these roles in different functions the
Commission undertakes.

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2019

In recent years a subtle change has taken place in the policy-making machinery shaping European i... more In recent years a subtle change has taken place in the policy-making machinery shaping European integration. The traditional methods for producing collective European Union (EU) policies, typified by the extensive analysis of a problem, extended phases of consultation with stakeholders, the deliberate cultivation of support for proposals, occasional decision-making moments and their long-term implementation, now share space with what is best described as crisis oriented methods for arriving at collective decisions. These methods prioritize the early identification of the next crisis, specific kinds of actors and technologies, abbreviated decision-making procedures and new narratives on the raison d’etre of European integration. This article treats this development as a kind of crisisification of EU policy-making – a change in the processes by which collective decisions are made – and explores its implications for practice and research by drawing on both classical EU studies approaches and insights from critical security studies.

West European Politics, 2019

Global health governance has increasingly become articulated and acted upon in ways that emphasis... more Global health governance has increasingly become articulated and acted
upon in ways that emphasise ‘health security’. This article applies a collective
securitisation approach to understand how a particular governance regime
has evolved at the European level, one concerned with large-scale ‘threats’ to
public health and societies at large. The analysis shows that alongside elitelevel
securitisation moves, transnational professional networks and bureaucratic
actors have also taken part both as securitising agents and audience,
with outcomes reflected not only in policy change but also new EU-specific
surveillance technologies, institutional structures, and information-sharing
platforms. While these developments are partially interlinked with global
trends, we show that the EU has gradually institutionalised its own approach
to health security. This new status quo is enshrined in a legal framework and
set of practices with an all-hazards approach targeting preparedness, early
detection and containment of ‘serious cross-border threats to health’ of any
origin – beyond infectious disease.

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2016

In the academic debate on the relative powers and influence of the EU institutions, it has become... more In the academic debate on the relative powers and influence of the EU institutions, it has become common to suggest – especially in the case of advocates of the 'new intergovernmentalism' – that the European Commission is in decline. In this article we show that while in some limited respects this is indeed the case, the Commission's overall position in the EU system is not one of having become a weaker institutional actor. The extent of the losses of its powers and influence tends to be exaggerated, while in some aspects its powers and influence have actually been strengthened. We show this by focusing on three of the Commission's core functions – agenda-setter, legislative actor and executive – all of which are widely portrayed as being in decline. We incorporate into our analysis both the formal and informal resources available to the Commission in exercising the functions.

This article critically examines a poorly understood aspect of the European security landscape: e... more This article critically examines a poorly understood aspect of the European security landscape: early warning systems (EWSs). EWSs are socio-technical systems designed to detect, analyse, and disseminate knowledge on potential security issues in a wide variety of sectors. We first present an empirical overview of more than 80 EWS in the European Union. We then draw on debates in Critical Security Studies to help us make sense of the role of such systems, tapping into conceptual debates on the construction of security issues as either "threat" or "risk" related. Finally, we study one EWSthe Early Warning and Response System for infectious diseasesto understand how it works and how it reconciles riskversus threat-based security logics. Contrary to assumptions of a clear distinction between risk-and threat-based logics of security, we show that EWSs may serve as a "transmission belt" for the movement of issues from risk into threats.

European Security, 2013

This introduction argues for a new research agenda on European internal security cooperation from... more This introduction argues for a new research agenda on European internal security cooperation from the perspective of public goods. We set out our case in three parts. First, we identify new empirical puzzles and demonstrate significant explanatory gaps in the existing internal security literature which public goods theory could help address. Second, we outline the building blocks of a public goods approach and provide an overview of its application, both existing and potentially, in various areas of regional security and European integration. Third, we present three complementary ways of using public goods theory to analyse internal security in the European Union, with the aim of spurring new research questions while accepting some limitations of this theoretical approach.

European Security, 2012

After the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, the European Union (EU) staked its claim as an imp... more After the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, the European Union (EU) staked its claim as an important international player in the fight against global terrorism. The EU encouraged new initiatives at the United Nations and devoted newfound
attention to aid and assistance programs to third states. The EU’s ambitions and heightened activity prompts a number of questions about rhetoric versus action and offers a useful test case for assessing the quality of the EU’s ‘actorness’. This article applies the actorness concept to shed light on the EU’s behaviour in global counter-terrorism activities. It draws together existing insights on actorness into an analytical framework containing four sets of variables
context, coherence, capability and consistency
and applies the framework to evidence gathered on the EU’s international and third country role in countering terrorism. Our results show that the actorness approach sheds considerable light on the EU’s international behaviour in global counter-terrorism and suggests the EU has some way to go before becoming a full actor in this area.

Global Health Governance, 2011

Security Strategy broadened the scope of threats facing the continent to include pandemic influen... more Security Strategy broadened the scope of threats facing the continent to include pandemic influenza. Identifying an influenza pandemic as a security threat, however, is relatively easily done. More challenging is to act upon that designation, through implementing security strategies in practice and managing governance processes in multi-level governance systems. Drawing upon securitization theory and traditional implementation theory, this article compares the extent to which the EU and the US have turned words into action on pandemic preparation. The findings show that increasingly securitized rhetoric following the H5N1 and H1N1 outbreaks has indeed been followed by new policies, structures, and operational capacities. As such, the article provides preliminary evidence that securitizing a public policy problem can increase political leverage over administrative processes of implementation.

European Political Science Review, 2010

This paper illuminates a critical stage of the implementation of European law: the transposition ... more This paper illuminates a critical stage of the implementation of European law: the transposition of European Union (EU) directives. Directives must be transposed into national policies in order to give effect to European law, yet most national authorities experience considerable transposition difficulties. For this reason, the study of transposition has become a focal point within the broader research agenda on noncompliance in the European Union. Highlighting several popular explanatory variables but noting the sometimes contradictory results that follow from empirical testing, this paper outlines an approach that views transposition as a process taking place largely within ministerial agencies rather than across government systems. By using variables related to these domestic processes in our empirical analysis, the paper shows how such an approach can help to explain the way in which member states transpose EU directives.

Cooperation and Conflict, 2009

The central contention of this article holds that scholars do not adequately assess and explain t... more The central contention of this article holds that scholars do not adequately assess and explain the influence of transboundary security issues ongovernment behaviour. Their assessment is not adequate becausethey do not fully conceptualize the relationship between internal andexternal security concerns. Their explanations
are not adequate becauseexisting theories cannot fully explain how and why states respond totransboundary security issues. To rectify these concerns, stimulate andstructure further research, and encourage scholarly dialogue, we buildan analytical framework for (a) understanding what we describe as the‘nexus’ of internal and external security matters, and (b) explaining why that nexus may change state behaviour on transboundary security issues.The resulting framework encourages a strong focus on the nature of transboundary problems before studying their implications for changesin perceptions, policies, politics and polity.

Review of Policy Research, 2009

As crises grow more transnational in origin and effect, managing them effectively will require in... more As crises grow more transnational in origin and effect, managing them effectively will require international cooperation. This article explores the dilemmas inherent to producing common crisis management capacities across national governments. Drawing on the literature related to “international public goods,” the article builds an approach for understanding these dilemmas through the lens of collective action and the perverse incentives associated therein. The article applies this approach to cooperation in Europe on an issue that typifies the transnational crisis—the spread of communicable disease—and highlights obstacles to European Union ambitions to build a robust system for disease surveillance and control. Having isolated the obstacles, the article then identifies solutions to facilitate cooperation toward more effectively producing the good in question.

Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2000

In the face of modern crises, the European Union (EU) has increased its efforts to build common c... more In the face of modern crises, the European Union (EU) has increased its efforts to build common crisis management capacity across the continent. As the EU seeks to both coordinate national crisis and disaster authorities and build its own supranational capacities, it is worth asking whether the EU is capable of designing an effective European homeland security apparatus that will fit member state expectations as well as its unique supranational character. In this article, we apply a bureaucratic politics perspective to explore and assess how the EU's governance structures and policymaking processes constrain and facilitate its efforts to build transnational crisis management capacity. We discuss how institutional and policymaking characteristics may affect the EU's ongoing effort to enhance security and safety for the inhabitants of European states.

International Studies Review, 2008

The nation-state faces an increasing number of what we refer to as “transboundary threats.” A tra... more The nation-state faces an increasing number of what we refer to as “transboundary threats.” A transboundary threat is characterized by the potential to cross geographical and functional boundaries. These characteristics outstrip the capacity of nation-states and national bureaucracies that were designed to deal with more classic threats. The institutional challenge, we argue, is to build effective transboundary systems for managing these complex threats. In this essay, we ask what role the European Union can play in such an endeavor. We document the EU’s growing crisis management and security capacities and offer an initial assessment of these capacities. We surmise that the EU will play a significant but rather circumscribed role, one which reflects the EU’s unique system of supranational governance.

Journal of European Public Policy, 2006

Agenda-setting in the EU takes place in two ways: ‘from above’through high-level political instit... more Agenda-setting in the EU takes place in two ways: ‘from above’through high-level political institutions urging EU action, and ‘from below’through policy experts formulating specific proposals in low-level groups andworking parties. This article formulates a theoretical framework for understanding the differences between these two processes. Moreover, it shows how they may inter-act and become intertwined in the course of actual agenda-setting processes. Theutility of the approach is demonstrated in two contrasting case studies: one of EU anti-smoking policy and one of EU anti-bioterrorism policy.

Journal of European Integration, 2006

Recent organizational, institutional and policy developments signal a newtype of co–operative pol... more Recent organizational, institutional and policy developments signal a newtype of co–operative policy activity at the European level and suggest the emergence of a new policy space in the European Union. What binds together the activities in thatspace is a common concern for the protection of the EU citizen. This new policy spacecrosses sectoral boundaries, draws in a number of governmental and societal actors, andcomprises a variety of institutional venues. Moreover, its dimensions span the internaland external divide in EU policies. This article serves as an introduction to a special issueon the topic of the EU’s emerging protection policy space. It first discusses the empiricalparameters of this emerging space, before outlining a set of research questions andsurveying the theoretical landscape for addressing these questions. It concludes by intro-ducing the articles that comprise the special issue.

Governance-an International Journal of Policy Administration and Institutions, 2002

This article investigates both the operation and the democratic legitimacy of the European Union ... more This article investigates both the operation and the democratic legitimacy of the European Union committee system. This vast but rarely studied system is an important site of European governance, exercising an increasing amount of policy responsibility while also providing the essential arenas necessary for supranational problem solving. Despite their contribution to the success of the "European project," committees are increasingly coming under attack, notably for their lack of democratic credentials. The article employs original empirical research based on interviews and internal documentary evidence to answer a timely question: does the EU committee system strike an appropriate balance between the values of system effectiveness and democratic legitimacy? Following the application of a set of democratic principles to EU committees, the article finds that a poor balance has been struck between effectiveness and democracy. The article concludes with some operational suggestions for improving this balance in the short-to-medium term.

The European Union as Crisis Manager, 2013

The Euro-Atlantic Community views resilience as an important concept for guiding anticipatory cap... more The Euro-Atlantic Community views resilience as an important concept for guiding anticipatory capacity building in the face of varied and complex security threats. The next step is to examine the n ...

University of Pittsburgh Press eBooks, Sep 7, 2017

This report covers the key findings about mapping exercises and the analysis of: - the effectiven... more This report covers the key findings about mapping exercises and the analysis of: - the effectiveness and legitimacy of Commission, European Council, and Council of the European Union's transboundary crisis management capacity -the role of the European Commission, in which much crisis management capacity, expertise and leadership potential can be found; and the relatively recent role of European Council in providing political direction to EU crisis management efforts

Routledge eBooks, Dec 22, 2017

Routledge eBooks, Jun 4, 2020

Global health governance has increasingly become articulated and acted upon in ways that emphasis... more Global health governance has increasingly become articulated and acted upon in ways that emphasise 'health security'. This article applies a collective securitisation approach to understand how a particular governance regime has evolved at the European level, one concerned with large-scale 'threats' to public health and societies at large. The analysis shows that alongside elitelevel securitisation moves, transnational professional networks and bureaucratic actors have also taken part both as securitising agents and audience, with outcomes reflected not only in policy change but also new EU-specific surveillance technologies, institutional structures, and information-sharing platforms. While these developments are partially interlinked with global trends, we show that the EU has gradually institutionalised its own approach to health security. This new status quo is enshrined in a legal framework and set of practices with an all-hazards approach targeting preparedness, early detection and containment of 'serious cross-border threats to health' of any originbeyond infectious disease.

This edited volume offers different theories useful for understanding and explaining European Uni... more This edited volume offers different theories useful for understanding and explaining European Union cooperation on internal security matters. Cooperation on such matters has not only flourished over the past two decades, but - more recently - has also become one of the most politicised or contested areas of European integration. Yet academic studies in the field remain predominantly empirical or not readily accessible to new scholars.

The book addresses this major gap by providing a theoretical primer with a palette of options for explaining a complicated issue area, reaching across the divide of critical and more mainstream scholars that typically fragments discussion and debate. Theorizing Internal Security Cooperation in the European Union offers accessible and authoritative contributions by some of the most distinguished scholars in the field. Each chapter reviews the emergence of a major theoretical approach, the current state-of-the art for that approach, and the accompanying methodological considerations before providing an empirical illustration and an outlook on further research and dialogue with other perspectives. This book will serve as a central reference for developing our understanding of EU internal security cooperation, for exploring the ongoing transformation of statehood, and for illuminating the contemporary evolution of the European Union.

In an era of transboundary crises, Europe faces the daunting challenge of coordinating joint resp... more In an era of transboundary crises, Europe faces the daunting challenge of coordinating joint responses in an effective and timely way. Recent transboundary crises such as the Icelandic Ash Cloud (2010), food contamination incidents and the financial breakdown revealed a key part of that challenge: sifting through relevant information, building an accurate picture of what is happening, and communicating that analysis to political decision-makers. Academic researchers refer to this process in terms of ‘sense-making’. To create joint capacity for sense-making is one of the prominent elements of the EU’s ambitions to play a role in the management of transboundary crises. The number of early-warning, rapid-alert, and common communication platforms in the EU has multiplied in recent years but with little central guidance or overall rationale. This report tries to ‘make sense of sense-making’ tools in the EU by providing the most comprehensive overview to date. We ask what sense-making tools are available at the EU level, document what they are intended to do, and explore what these tools offer in terms of ‘added-value’ to European states. Using official documents, secondary literature and interviews with policy officials, this report maps the sense-making landscape of the EU. After drawing out key patterns and offering an inventory of tools relevant to sense-making, we conclude by discussing the problems and prospects of the EU’s role.

This third report from the Creating Crisis Management Capacity in a Secure European Community res... more This third report from the Creating Crisis Management Capacity in a Secure
European Community research programme takes a sectoral ‘cut’ at understanding the
EU’s emerging efforts to protect the safety and security of European citizens. We
offer an in-depth look into three high profile areas of growing European co-operation:
critical infrastructure protection, illegal immigration and health security. Published as a non-peer-reviewed book in the Swedish Defence University "ACTA B" book series.

Handbook of Governance and Security, 2014

A curious development is underway in the process of European integration. The European Union, lon... more A curious development is underway in the process of European integration. The European Union, long accustomed to taking decisions that lead to slow, incremental steps towards common policies, is being asked to take urgent, decisive steps during extreme events. In contrast to the early years of the EU, today hardly a day passes without a news report of EU involvement in what might generically be called a ‘crisis’: a possible pandemic, a major cross-border flood, a cyber-attack, a looming energy shortage, a civil war, a chemical spill, a volcanic eruption, or, of late, a debt-driven financial breakdown. These are all very different kinds of events and the EU’s involvement varies. However, they conform to the generic definition of a crisis as an unexpected, acute disruption to normal societal functions that must be handled quickly and under conditions of uncertainty (Rosenthal et al., 1991). A crisis is intriguing — from a scholarly perspective — because it shines a spotlight on the governance capability of a political-administrative system. It reveals a system’s coordination capacity, leadership arrangements, power sharing potential, communication effectiveness, and degree of legitimacy in the eyes of citizens. The EU is increasingly being asked to tackle crises according to this definition on a fairly regular basis and is developing capacities to do so (Boin et al., 2013). Not only does this development offer an intriguing angle into which to view the EU’s civil security governance as highlighted by this book, but it also suggests a rich vein of research agendas and theoretical development opportunities for scholars.

Crisis Rooms: towards a global network?, 2014

Handbook Of Governance And Security, 2014

The European External Action Service and National Foreign Ministries , Jan 2015

The European Commission in the Post-Lisbon Era of Crises, 2013

Routledge Handbook of Security Studies, 2010

The European Union and Terrorism, 2007

The European Commission, 2006

Journal of European Public Policy, 2005

Public Administration, 2012

Any new entry to the field of European Union textbooks requires a firm rationale for its introduc... more Any new entry to the field of European Union textbooks requires a firm rationale for its introduction. The field is already crowded with proven classics, so newcomers must demonstrate a unique and neglected angle on the EU. Furthermore, the market is changing. Course cutbacks and changing academic fashions mean courses singularly devoted to the EU are in decline (with the exception of some markets, such as India and China, where new EU centres are prompting growing but still relatively limited attention to EU studies). If this trend continues, instructors will be limited in the number of EU textbooks they can assign; individual texts will need to provide an 'all-in-one' perspective on the EU to prosper in a shrinking market. Lelieveldt and Princen's The Politics of the European Union rises to both of these challenges owing to the nature of the book's theoretical orientation and the breadth of its coverage.

Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2011

Millennium-journal of International Studies, 2000

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2012