Drugs, the State and the Political System of the European Union

Abstract

The process of European integration has produced a new and complex political system which has involved a redefinition of the role of the state in Europe (Hix, 1999). This has generated considerable debate around questions of whether or not this is indicative of — or indeed might require — changes in the territorial organization of the state. In the course of this debate it has been observed that ‘The EU does not have a monopoly on the legitimate use of coercion. As a result, the EU is not a “state” in the traditional Weberian meaning of the word. The power of coercion, through police and security forces, remains the exclusive prerogative of the national governments of the EU member states’ (Hix, 1999: 4). Decisions taken by justice ministers from member states, meeting in Council, have cumulatively led to the construction of a complex security apparatus designed to control threats to member states and the citizens of those states. The central feature of this process is harmonization: of law enforcement practices, and both hard and soft law measures.¹⁸⁰ As well as a broad range of legislative measures, it has also involved the creation of institutions designed to facilitate transnational cooperation between law enforcement and justice agencies (for example, Europol and Eurojust) along with computerized systems capable of storing data on crime and criminal suspects (for example, SIS, and CIS).