The collective securitization of aviation in the European Union through association with terrorism

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the expansion of European Union cooperation on aviation security using the framework of collective securitization. It establishes how 9/11 was a precipitating event that put terrorism and aviation security in the spotlight. 9/11 changed the collectively held understanding of the security threat posed by terrorism sufficiently to establish aviation security as a common policy framework rather than a national issue. 9/11 was therefore used by EU actors to convince the EU Member States that they all faced one collective terrorist threat. The subsequent institutionalization of this cooperation contributed to a routinization of aviation practices in the EU. As a result of the association between terrorism and aviation, 9/11 pushed EU Member States into taking action on aviation security. This caused the Member States to acknowledge the need for both the highest possible standards of aviation security and the harmonized enforcement of these standards.

KEYWORDS:

• EU counter-terrorism
• aviation security
• collective securitization
• European Union
• supranational governance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (Jean Monnet Actions).

Notes

1 Hoffman was a Founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews (along with Paul Wilkinson) and was appointed as a Commissioner to The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission). He succeeded Brian Jenkins at RAND (Council on Foreign Relations, n.d.; Committee on Homeland Security, 2010; Wilkinson & Jenkins, 1999).

2 A terrorism and counter-insurgency expert who has been lauded as one of the first and foremost leaders in academic research on terrorism, who started the RAND terrorism research programme in 1972, and was appointed to the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security in 1996 as well as serving as an advisor to the National Commission on Terrorism from 1999 to 2000 (RAND Corporation, n.d.; Wilkinson & Jenkins, 1999).

3 In addition to academic work on political terrorism including establishing the Tel Aviv University’s Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies’ Terrorism and Low intensity Conflict Program, Merari also established and commanded Israel’s Hostage Negotiations and Crisis Management Unit (International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, n.d.; Wilkinson & Jenkins, 1999).

4 Wilkinson remains to date the most prominent academic on aviation security. In addition to numerous published works on terrorism and democracy from 1974, he was a guest lecturer and frequent expert consultant and advisory. Wilkinson began to focus on aviation after Lockerbie not only authoring numerous highly respected works but also advising both the UK Department for Transport and the US Federal Aviation Administration, many other governments, as well as both NATO and the United Nations (Rengger, 2011; Wallis, 1993, 2003).

5 A former Director of Security for the International Air Transport Association and has served on the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Aviation Security Panel, as well as participating in and appearing before both American commissions and other national government committees (Wallis, 1993, 2003; Wilkinson & Jenkins, 1999).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christian Kaunert

Christian Kaunert, Prof. Dr., is Professor of International Security at Dublin City University. He is also Professor of Policing and Security, as well as Director of the International Centre for Policing and Security at the University of South Wales. Previously, he served as an Academic Director and Professor at the Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, a Professor of International Politics, Head of Discipline in Politics, and the Director of the European Institute for Security and Justice, a Jean Monnet Centre for Excellence, at the University of Dundee. He was previously Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow at the European University Institute Florence, and Senior Lecturer in EU Politics & International Relations, University of Salford. He is currently the Editor of the Journal of Contemporary European Studies, International Conflict and Cooperation and the Edward Elgar Book Series “European Security and Justice Critiques”. Prof. Kaunert holds a PhD in International Politics and an MSc in European Politics from the University of Wales Aberystwyth, a BA (Hons) European Business from Dublin City University, ESB Reutlingen and a BA (Hons) Open University.

Briony Callander

Briony Callander, Dr, is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of South Wales. Dr Callander obtained a BSc in Aerospace Business Systems and an MA in Intelligence and Security Studies from the University of Salford, as well as a PhD in EU Politics from the University of Dundee. Dr Callander worked as a Lecturer in International Studies at the University of Salford and gained experience of teaching, course design and management. As a PhD researcher Dr Callander has had success in achieving significant research funding including securing a prestigious UACES Scholarship and the Lord Cockfield Scholarship. Dr Callander regularly presents her research at conferences at the institutional, regional and national levels.

Sarah Léonard

Sarah Léonard, Prof., joined the University of the West of England as a Professor of International Security in July 2018. Sarah holds a PhD in International Politics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, a Master of Arts in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Leeds, as well as an MA in European Studies and a BA in Politics (International Relations) from the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium). Prior to taking up her post at the University of the West of England, Sarah was a Lecturer in International Security at the University of Salford, a Marie Curie Research Fellow at Sciences Po Paris, a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Dundee and an Associate Professor in International Affairs at Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium).