American International Journal of Social Science

Security Coordination between the European Union and the United States
Dr. Christie L. Richardson

Abstract
A transatlantic agreement exists between the United States and the European Union for the purposes of bridging the gap between law enforcement and homeland security and supporting proactive and reactionary counterintelligence efforts to combat terrorism. The European Union has 27 member states participating in the transatlantic agreement. As a result, there often are discrepancies between the United States and the European Union with respect to data collection, detainee policies, terror designation lists, and border patrol. Of the 27 member states, 21 are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); the remaining member states are closely associated with NATO sister programs dedicated to building strategic policies and outreach programs for homeland security defenses. The transatlantic agreement between the United States and the European Union is not treaty based (soft law); therefore, the consequences are not upheld by the standards set forth in international (hard) law. This presentation addresses the need to review the Lisbon Treaty, which establishes the European Union with the Constitution Treaty, in order to add a clause within Article 28 to include improvements of the U.S.–EU transatlantic agreement. Incorporating a transatlantic homeland security agreement in the Lisbon Treaty would increase cooperation against terrorism, provide a collaborative framework to intensify law enforcement capabilities, and keep states within the parameters of international law by holding all participants accountable for their actions.

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