The process of institutionalising the EU’s anti-terrorist policy

This article applies the perspective of historical institutionalism to the empirical analysis of the motors and characteristics of the institutionalisation process of the European Union’s anti-terrorist policies. Based on a theoretical model developed by Stone Sweet, Sandholtz and Fligstein, this contribution critically analyses the impact of external crises in the form of a series of terrorist attacks on the emergence of antiterrorism as an sphere of European governance. The article also examines political developments and key institutions, studies the role of policy entrepreneurs during this period and compares the importance of “revolutionary” and “evolutionist” perspectives to our understanding of the process of institutional change in this field.