University of Dundee The counterterrorism agreements of Europol with third countries
Yüklə 275,33 Kb. Pdf görüntüsü
|
21
Morocco-Europol Agreement. Such an agreement has not yet been concluded despite the efforts towards this direction that date back to 2000’s.
74 In general, in the context of the fight against terrorism, the EU and Europol depend to a great extent on the ENP countries for terrorism- related intelligence. This dependency can potentially increase these countries’ leverage in their interactions with the EU. 75
In practice, in the case of Morocco the need of Europol for potentially useful Moroccan intelligence did not lead the European organisation in a more compromising stance on data protection issues and Morocco has not taken advantage of this European dependency. The uncompromising stance of the EU, despite European dependency on Moroccan intelligence, was based on several reasons.
Firstly, the EU’s is perceived as superior in the context of the ENP framework and there is a perceived asymmetry of interests and power between the two sides. This superiority and power asymmetry is related to the economic and normative advantages of EU member states in comparison with the ENP countries. In order for the EU to provide financial and technical rewards to Morocco it sets a number of pre- conditions, including rules and norms on the protection of personal data. If Morocco does not comply with these preconditions then the EU holds back the financial and technical benefits. At the same time, the EU does not see any reason for compromising with Morocco on data protection issues given that cooperation with Morocco is not perceived as enhancing EU’s and member states’ counterterrorism capacity.
A second factor is that there is no common terrorism threat between the EU and Morocco. While the EU has seen the Al Qaeda as a major threat to its own security, Morocco’s threat perceptions regarding Al Qaeda has not been as high as the EU’s. Therefore, if the EU is more flexible with Morocco on data protection, this is not likely to reduce the Al Qaeda threat to Europe. Additionally, such a compromise will mostly benefit
22
Morocco rather than the EU; Europol can obtain personal data from Morocco even without an agreement in place. Morocco, however, cannot have access to Europol intelligence without firstly abiding to data protection rules and concluding a data exchange agreement. As a result of the above, the lack of a common threat among the two actors means that the EU-Morocco interaction is not a symmetrical relationship in terms of power and interests.
However, the recent expansion of the IS in Syria, Iraq and the unstable countries of the Maghreb has created risks for Morocco. According to ISCR figures, Morocco has a very high number of citizens (1500 individuals) fighting for the IS, coming third after Tunisia (1500-3000) and Saudi Arabia (1500-2500). 76 The return of these fighters to Morocco and the EU is a security risk for both sides of the Mediterranean. The main concern of the EU is the prevention of radicalised individuals who may plan terrorist attacks from entering EU countries. 77 The above may create the impetus for the urgent negotiation of a Morocco-Europol data exchange agreement.
Regarding the actorness dimension, a relationship with Morocco has little value in terms of enhancing the global image of Europol as a dominant counterterrorism actor. Morocco has not been either as strong a counterterrorism player at the global level as the US 78 or at the regional level as Turkey. Therefore, the EU is not dependent on Morocco’s recognition of Europol as a counterterrorism partner, which means that it is less likely that Europol and the EU will be flexible with Morocco on data protection.
Finally, the political environment in Europe has changed after the entering into force of the Lisbon treaty in 2009, making it more difficult for Europol to have a flexible approach towards Morocco on data protection issues. Though after the shock of the 9/11 attacks the political environment was
23
more favourable for the conclusion of an agreement between Morocco and Europol, no progress has been achieved so far. In the post-Lisbon treaty period the negotiation and conclusion of an agreement with Morocco has been more risky for Europeans. If Europol concludes an agreement with Morocco before the latter has adopted EU’s data protection regulations, the actions of Europol will come under scrutiny from the European Parliament and the ECJ. Therefore, the lack of a suitable political environment which would allow Europol to be more flexible means that Europeans insisted on their data protection demands.
In line with the four conditions explained above, EU and Europol have been less dependent on Morocco than vice versa and this has created a situation of asymmetrical interdependence and power asymmetry in favour of Europeans. Similarly to its stance towards Turkey, the EU follows an uncompromising stance towards Morocco. Ultimately, the European approach towards Morocco reflects the diverse and pragmatic nature of EU’s external relations which are ultimately based on calculations of interests rather than on normative concerns.
This article has shown that the interdependence between two international actors can potentially create a situation of power asymmetry where the stronger side influences the weaker sides’ interest calculations. If the weaker actor is dependent on the benefits provided by the stronger actor then it compromises and adapts its priorities in order to sustain cooperation with the stronger party. The powerful actor may, however, also compromise if it sees any opportunities for enhancing its own interests and the power asymmetry between the two sides is, as a result, diminished.
The above can be seen in Europol’s relations with third countries and in Europol’s data protection requirements when considering the conclusion of Yüklə 275,33 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|