Notions of (In)security Within the Eu. How European Policy‐makers View the Sources and Costs of Terrorism and Organised Crime

This article maps notions of (in)security and security policy within the European Union (EU) since the 1990s using the cases of terrorism and organised crime. It traces interpretations of European policy‐makers about the sources and costs that these two human‐induced insecurities incur on Europe’s societies and identifies the rationalities underlying the respective perceptions and policy actions. The analysis reveals that there are different logics at work that guide the economics of security: path dependency, reactive logics, emotions, integration dynamics and institutional interests, external pressures and more recently also considerations about the potential effects on the European economy. However, the EU’s attempts to model cost scenarios still remain underdeveloped.