Thematic Focus: (In)Security and the shift to the right in Europe
EU home affairs policy at the “turning point”: an introduction
by Dirk Burczyk
For decades, the EU’s “internal security” policy has been shaped by changing enemy stereotypes. The most enduring of these is “irregular” migration. Migration is also a key issue for the extreme and conservative right, which is rushing from one election victory to another at national and European level. The current ring-wing shift in all EU institutions — the Commission, Council, and Parliament — coincides with the emergence of “hybrid threat” as the new enemy stereotype and the internal mobilization for an EU/NATO war with Russia.
It’s getting dark in the EU: Old surveillance and new technologies
by Tom Jennissen and Konstantin Macher
With its “protect-EU” security strategy, the European Commission wants to make a new attempt at data retention and give law enforcement agencies access to encrypted communications. In doing so, it is implementing the proposals of a questionable working group that has developed a radical surveillance agenda without any meaningful involvement of civil society or academia. Following the recent shift to the right in the European elections, this could now fulfill a long-held dream of authoritarian governments.
Who wants a European police force? The unbridled expansion of Europol
by Chloé Berthélémy
Security and defense issues are among the European Union’s priorities for 2024–2029. Among those benefiting from the increased focus on security are agencies in the field of justice and home affairs, in particular Europol, the EU agency for law enforcement cooperation. Its mandate is to be comprehensively revised so that it becomes a “truly operational police agency.”
The EU White Paper on Defense: A step toward a military-industrial complex?
by Volker Eick
In December 2024, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that Europe needed to be prepared for war – and that she would make it happen. It took less than three months for what started out as 20 pages of glossy paper to turn into an 800 billion EUR EU arms program. Was the goal simply to make Europe’s arms corporations rich and happy? Perhaps – but will it succeed?
Europe’s double-barred borders: Schengen in the wake of the shift to the right
by Eric Töpfer
Forty years ago, the Schengen countries promised to create a Europe without border controls. With the rise of right-wing parties, more and more countries have abandoned this promise. However, the police “compensatory measures” that have been in place since 1995 to offset the alleged loss of security are not being abandoned. Instead, they are being expanded.
Authoritarian tendencies in legislation: Greece’s slide toward populism
by Harry Ladis
Driven by self-fueled populist fantasies of punishment, Greek domestic security policy has taken a repressive turn over the past two decades. Criminal law and criminal procedure have been massively tightened, with governments reacting reflexively with new criminalization – even when the reasons were fabricated and fueled resentment toward minorities. The result is the dismantling of constitutional guarantees and a growing prison population.
A state in transition: An enemies’ and friends’ penal code for Italy
by Gianluca Vitale
For at least two decades, a trend has developed in Italy that can be described as regulatory “pan-penalism”: every political and social phenomenon is met with a repressive criminal law response or sanctions under administrative law as the first (and often only) reaction. The departure from a liberal-democratic understanding of the state particularly strengthens the repressive elements of the public executive.
The border of shame: Nothing new in the Polish-Belarusian border area?
by Stefan Zgliczński
For years, Poland has been pursuing a rigorous policy of isolation on its eastern border. Refugees are dying and those who help them are being criminalized. Under the new, supposedly more liberal government, this policy has been tightened even further – even if the rhetoric has been toned down.
Non-thematic contributions
Consequential encounters with the police: Racism and geographies of encounter
by Svenja Keitzel
This study examines racist police practices and their social consequences based on the experiences of Black people, people of color, and people perceived as migrants. By theorizing the moment of encounter with the police, it shows how selective checks, derogatory treatment, or ignoring requests for help create racist othering. The consequences are a loss of trust in the police, social exclusion, and the reinforcement of social inequalities.
The end of a good idea: FOSPOL – and how it failed
by Nils Zurawski
This article traces the history of the Research Center for Strategic Police Research (FOSPOL). How did the promising idea of independent and free research in, with, and about the police end up becoming a trimmed-down, restricted scientific service?
Automated injustice: Predictive policing in Germany
by Sonja Peteranderl
Police forces in Germany are increasingly researching and working with algorithms for “predicting” and “preventing” crime. Many systems are being developed, tested, or used without sufficient legal basis, transparency, or risk assessment — even though they can exacerbate discrimination against marginalized people. The trend is shifting from location-based to person-based, and from theory-based to more complex algorithmic evaluations.
Police fatal shootings in 2024
by Otto Diederichs
The statistics on police use of firearms compiled by the Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) for 2024 show a total of 74 shots fired at people – nine more than in the previous year. According to official statistics, 21 people were killed by police gunfire – more than in any other year since the statistics were first published.