For years, controversy has plagued the EU's attempts to agree on a legal basis for sharing the pe... more For years, controversy has plagued the EU's attempts to agree on a legal basis for sharing the personal details of airline passengers with the US. Now, opposition in the European Parliament may see this form of counterterrorism cooperation rejected. The arguments are about more than record-keeping: they relate to the need to assure passenger security in the post-9/11 era but also the risk that these security practices can pose to the privacy and personal liberty of normal citizens. This paper analyses the development of EU-US PNR data-sharing agreements as a case study for wider transatlantic security cooperation. Reviewing the key challenges from the PNR story presents a strong argument for the US to fully engage with the EU on "internal" security measures that can assure transatlantic security externally. To fully maximize the opportunities however, agreements like PNR need independent oversight and redress procedures. Without such elements, failure on PNR is more likely and the possibilities for a wider transatlantic area of freedom, security and justice may narrow.
This paper reviews liberal and realist interpretations of interstate alignment. It looks at the d... more This paper reviews liberal and realist interpretations of interstate alignment. It looks at the differing forms that alliances and partnerships have taken since the Cold War era with particular reference to the empirical record of transatlantic relations and scenarios for its future. Writers often dismiss realist and liberal interpretations as respectively pessimistic or optimistic about the prospects for transatlantic relations but there is significant debate within each school about the drivers of alignment, how this relates to the agent-structure debate and what this means for transatlantic relations. This paper highlights the shortcomings of purely structural explanations for alignment but also calls into question the functions ascribed to alignment behaviour by scholars of both disciplines. In an era of emerging threats and rising economic powers, theorists will have to address how more informal modes of collaboration can adapt to new challenges in a less Atlantic-centred world.
Despite the formal role laid out for the General Affairs Council (GAC) in the Treaties, it has be... more Despite the formal role laid out for the General Affairs Council (GAC) in the Treaties, it has been weakened since it was extracted from the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) and set up to function on its own. Its current uneven composition is leading to further marginalisation.
The Policy Brief argues that reforming the GAC can bring it to the centre of gravity of the Council proceedings and address a number of problems in the current institutional structure. For that to happen, however, countries holding the rotating Council presidency need to consider placing their head of state or government in the chair of the GAC meetings.
Upgrading GAC in this way would streamline the diverse work of the Council, it would help to alleviate the heavy political burden that now falls on the understaffed President of the European Council and it would allow the institution of the rotating presidency to regain a higher political profile by creating out of national leaders a de facto Vice President of the European Council.
For years, controversy has plagued the EU's attempts to agree on a legal basis for sharing the pe... more For years, controversy has plagued the EU's attempts to agree on a legal basis for sharing the personal details of airline passengers with the US. Now, opposition in the European Parliament may see this form of counterterrorism cooperation rejected. The arguments are about more than record-keeping: they relate to the need to assure passenger security in the post-9/11 era but also the risk that these security practices can pose to the privacy and personal liberty of normal citizens. This paper analyses the development of EU-US PNR data-sharing agreements as a case study for wider transatlantic security cooperation. Reviewing the key challenges from the PNR story presents a strong argument for the US to fully engage with the EU on "internal" security measures that can assure transatlantic security externally. To fully maximize the opportunities however, agreements like PNR need independent oversight and redress procedures. Without such elements, failure on PNR is more likely and the possibilities for a wider transatlantic area of freedom, security and justice may narrow.
This paper reviews liberal and realist interpretations of interstate alignment. It looks at the d... more This paper reviews liberal and realist interpretations of interstate alignment. It looks at the differing forms that alliances and partnerships have taken since the Cold War era with particular reference to the empirical record of transatlantic relations and scenarios for its future. Writers often dismiss realist and liberal interpretations as respectively pessimistic or optimistic about the prospects for transatlantic relations but there is significant debate within each school about the drivers of alignment, how this relates to the agent-structure debate and what this means for transatlantic relations. This paper highlights the shortcomings of purely structural explanations for alignment but also calls into question the functions ascribed to alignment behaviour by scholars of both disciplines. In an era of emerging threats and rising economic powers, theorists will have to address how more informal modes of collaboration can adapt to new challenges in a less Atlantic-centred world.
Despite the formal role laid out for the General Affairs Council (GAC) in the Treaties, it has be... more Despite the formal role laid out for the General Affairs Council (GAC) in the Treaties, it has been weakened since it was extracted from the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) and set up to function on its own. Its current uneven composition is leading to further marginalisation.
The Policy Brief argues that reforming the GAC can bring it to the centre of gravity of the Council proceedings and address a number of problems in the current institutional structure. For that to happen, however, countries holding the rotating Council presidency need to consider placing their head of state or government in the chair of the GAC meetings.
Upgrading GAC in this way would streamline the diverse work of the Council, it would help to alleviate the heavy political burden that now falls on the understaffed President of the European Council and it would allow the institution of the rotating presidency to regain a higher political profile by creating out of national leaders a de facto Vice President of the European Council.
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Papers by Andrew Byrne
The Policy Brief argues that reforming the GAC can bring it to the centre of gravity of the Council proceedings and address a number of problems in the current institutional structure. For that to happen, however, countries holding the rotating Council presidency need to consider placing their head of state or government in the chair of the GAC meetings.
Upgrading GAC in this way would streamline the diverse work of the Council, it would help to alleviate the heavy political burden that now falls on the understaffed President of the European Council and it would allow the institution of the rotating presidency to regain a higher political profile by creating out of national leaders a de facto Vice President of the European Council.
The Policy Brief argues that reforming the GAC can bring it to the centre of gravity of the Council proceedings and address a number of problems in the current institutional structure. For that to happen, however, countries holding the rotating Council presidency need to consider placing their head of state or government in the chair of the GAC meetings.
Upgrading GAC in this way would streamline the diverse work of the Council, it would help to alleviate the heavy political burden that now falls on the understaffed President of the European Council and it would allow the institution of the rotating presidency to regain a higher political profile by creating out of national leaders a de facto Vice President of the European Council.