Drs. L. Block

Specialisatie

• Internationale politiesamenwerking
• EU besluitvorming mbt politiesamenwerking 
  
   

Onderzoek

Onderzoek naar de impact van EU besluitvorming op de praktijk van Europese politiesamenwerking.

Beschrijving promotieproject

(Working)Title
Rationality and Decision-Making in European Police Co-operation: An Analysis of Relevant EU-instruments

Abstract
Strengthening police cooperation amongst the European Union (EU) Member States is one of the explicitly expressed goals of Title VI of the Treaty on the European Union to arrive at what is designated as the Single Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. Since 1993, the Council of the EU has therefore within the so-called 3rd pillar of the EU adopted an impressive number of texts including many instruments directly aimed at enhancing operational cooperation between police in the member states. To which extent these instruments actually had an impact on police cooperation is open for debate, some of the instruments show a clear impact while others do not. Different variables that might explain the variance in impact have been suggested including the legal nature of the instrument and the level of practicality.
This PhD study looks into 70 EU Council instruments that were adopted between 1995 and 2004 and are aimed at strengthening operational police cooperation. Quantitative and qualitative data on the policy-making process for each of these instruments as well as on their impact on police practices is being gathered and will be analysed for correlations. The findings will be complemented with a number of in-depth case studies to provide insights in how police cooperation in the EU is shaped in practice.

Recente publicaties

• Block, L. (2008) “Cross border liaison and intelligence: practicalities and issues”, in John Grieve, Clive Harfield, Allyson MacVean and Sir David Phillips (eds.) The Handbook of Intelligent Policing. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

• Block, L. (2008) “Combating Organised Crime in Europe: Practicalities of Police Cooperation” in Policing, Volume 2, Issue 1, pp. 74-81, peer reviewed.

• Block, L. (2007) “International Policing in Russia. Police cooperation between the European Union Member States and the Russian Federation”, in Policing and Society, Volume 17 Issue 4, pp. 367-387, peer reviewed.