On 12 May, 2010, The Security and Defence Agenda (SDA) hosted a roundtable entitled ‘Does Europe Need “Homeland Security”?’. This roundtable brought together high-level experts in the field of justice, home affairs and security to consider the difficulties involved in integrating European Union (EU) member states’ internal security policies into a greater European context.

“Until now,” began moderator Giles Merritt, Director of the Security and Defence Agenda, “’Homeland Security’ has been an American term, rather than a European one. The question facing Europe now is whether or not we need to develop something along the same lines as the United States.”

With the adoption in February 2010 of a new internal security strategy, the EU has begun taking steps towards unifying European security, explained keynote speaker Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs.

“We do not, however, have to copy our friends in the US,” she said. “We are 27 countries that all work slightly differently and we already have mechanisms in place to ensure the EU’s security. What I am doing is to look at how we can further improve relations, including between the existing agencies.”

“The political will to create a unified European approach to security exists to a different extent in different member states,” added Rafael Fernandez-Pita y Gonzalez, Deputy Director, DG Justice and Home Affairs, Council of the EU. “Progress has been made on cooperation between the member states but is now faltering in terms of functional needs.”

Cooperation is the key to internal security, agreed Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol. “The Lisbon Treaty provides a unique opportunity to develop one single internal security strategy,” he stated, “but is it moving fast enough?”

“If our current establishments can work together,” Wainwright continued, “we will not need a central agency. Otherwise, our political leaders will have to think of something new.”

Internal security concerns have become unevenly weighted towards terrorist attacks while more practical concerns about critical infrastructure protection (CIP) have been downplayed, said Anthony McGee, Head of Resilience, Royal United Services Institute, United Kingdom, during the second session.

“Terror is sexy,” McGee admitted, “speculating about what terrorists might blow up is easy but often relatively useless. The real challenge is much more mundane. It is about gathering the many, many infrastructure stakeholders together and creating frameworks and shared understandings which will help mitigate threats of all kinds.”
 

“Since 2006,” added Dick Heimans, Head of Sector Counter-Terrorism, DG Justice, Freedom and Security, European Commission, “there has been a clear convergence of efforts by the member states towards improving cooperation and streamlining policies in the field of CIP.”