Abstract

This chapter examines the extensive, diverse, and politically contentious range of issues that usually fall within the domain of interior or justice ministries in the European Union member states. EU member states seek to work together on issues such as asylum, refugee protection, migration, border controls, police cooperation, and judicial cooperation. The chapter first explains the meaning of ‘security’ before discussing formal and informal transgovernmentalism as well as partial communitarization, along with the five-year policy plan drafted by the interior ministers of the member states in Tampere, Finland, specifying their objectives in the area of internal security policy and cooperation. It also explores three areas in which there has been policy development in the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice (AFSJ): anti-terrorism; migration, asylum, and border controls; and the European arrest warrant. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the implications of the Lisbon Treaty for EU’s internal security.