European Security: Austria

European Security: Austria

Tatjana Cardona / Andreas Lehner

University of Vienna

 The events of 9/11 in the United States, as well as the bombing of trains in Madrid 2004 and of buses and underground stations in London 2005 had a major impact on the European Union’s approach to the issue of public safety and security. Driven by the public awareness of the imminent dangers of terrorism, the EU im­proved the cooperation and information exchange between the authorities of the Member States and the Institutions of the European Union. Apart from a constitu­tional amendment to implement the European Arrest Warrant, the impact of the se­curity measures on the Austria national legal system was marginal. The European Directive on the retention of data of 2006, for example, was recently questioned by some scholars, especially regarding the accordance of the Directive with the Aus­trian and European Fundamental rights guarantees. These doubts led to the politi­cal decision not to transpose the Directive before 2009 (if at all). Aside from the Euro­­pean Union’s security strategy, Austria furthermore preserves its security in­terests by the conclusion of State treaties. Austria concluded bilateral security-related treaties with most of its neighbouring countries and played a major role in the conclusion and adoption of the Prüm Convention.