European Responses to Security Threats in the Mediterranean in the Early 21^st Century

Abstract

According to the European Security Strategy (ESS 2003) European security cannot be tackled without considering the security of neighbouring countries (chap. 6 by Bailes). Threats to the security in countries in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean can rapidly become security threats for the European Union (EU) as a whole, and can particularly affect countries of Southern Europe. In this context, the Euro-Mediterranean area has been described as a single security complex (Biscop 2003: 191) or as a system of security complexes (Bremberg Heijl 2007: 2). Similar considerations were also made from a sub-regional perspective for the Western Mediterranean (Haddadi 1999). Moving beyond this debate, this chapter attempts to highlight the threats affecting the Euro-Mediterranean area, or some countries that comprise it. It examines to what extent the European Union has succeeded in providing sufficient cooperation mechanisms for improving security conditions in the region.