Towards an authoritarian European state? : the development and implementation of EU justice and home affairs policy

This thesis examines the development and implementation of EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and security policy by taking a political science approach to what is an extremely complex legal and political framework. It identifies a highly sophisticated EU security apparatus that has not been adequately described or' explained by contemporary theories of European integration or the concept of 'multi-level governance' . Instead, the thesis draws on critical theories of the state and globalisation to contextualise and explain the EU state apparatus. The research provides a comprehensive overview of the historical development of EU JHA and security policy, the distribution of executive and political power and the EU decisionmaking process, immigration and asylum policy, police and judicial cooperation, frameworks for surveillance and social control, and the EU's external security policy. Three crucial, interrelated questions are considered throughout. First, what are the implications of EU JHA security policy for the people of Europe; how does EU law and practice affect their human rights and civil liberties? Second, to what extent are these measures subject to democratic and judicial control; how are they accountable to the public? Third, do the structures and policies adopted and pursued by the EU match its stated values and principles; are they legitimate in a democratic society? The findings challenge benign assumptions about the EU by exposing a repressive immigration regime that has continued to strip migrants and refugees of their human rights, an overbroad EU criminal law that undermines judicial safeguards, the imposition of a 'surveillance society' in which state intrusions into private life are no longer regulated by the judiq:olry, and a foreign policy based increasingly on neocolonial rule. The thesis offers a number of stark warnings and recommendations for engagement with an increasingly authoritarian European state.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo