The European Union after 9/11: the demise of a liberal democratic asylum regime?

Abstract

Introduction:.....This paper will illustrate in a most relevant and painful way the paradoxes of European liberal democracy. The argument is approached by firstly examining the extent to which the rise of the Far or Populist Right has pressurised the European Union into becoming more intolerant, and then it proceeds to examine to what extent the threat of terrorism has undermined the liberal democratic consensus (outlined above). The argument is therefore pitched at two levels: the effects of domestic politics on the national policies of Member States and the inputs of Member States on the joint policies of the European Union. Elsewhere I have used this argument as an illustrative case study in the wider debate about the nature of multi-level governance in the European Union and the associated debate about the extent to which the European Union had taken on the attributes of a sovereign nation-state. Here I can only declare my interest, but of course this interest does shape the way I will pitch my argument. Show more