TERRORISM AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICE

Originally, the struggle against terrorism was not meant to be an aim of the European Communities, based on the development of an economic project designed by the Treaties. But the first decade of the 21(st) century has shown that the internal market, and the freedoms related, is still an area where terrorist groups are able to develop their organizations and to act over the limits established by the member State powers. The basis for cooperation between member States in justice and home affairs were set in the nineties. Lately the European Union has been proposing stronger strategies in the fight against organized crime and, as a consequence, against terrorism. Even though the EU has not defined a proper internal policy, the aim of the Union for the future can be to define one. The following pages go over the development of the framework for counterterrorism in the EU, over the concrete actions that the Union has dared to undertake to the date in that area, and over the updating of the context that the Lisbon Treaty makes. The aim of this article is to explain the challenge that security and justice present to the areas of freedom of the citizens in the European Union.