ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an analysis of the introduction and implementation the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) with a special focus on its importance for the European Union (EU) counterterrorism efforts and the future developments in the former Justice and Home Affairs pillar. Regarding the former, despite the initial implementation difficulties, EAW clearly makes the EU legal process of extradition more legible, efficient and transparent than the myriad of extradition conventions and bilateral agreements among EU Member States (MS). EAW reveals that while it may have been difficult for the EU heads of state to agree to the introduction of mutual recognition in principle, the real challenge is to put the mutual recognition system into work in practice. Moreover, since EAW represents the first major application of the principle of mutual recognition in Justice and Home Affairs, the lessons from its implementation offer important insights for the ongoing search for the most appropriate mode of governance in this area.
