ABSTRACT
After each of the two world wars of the 20th century, the European countries faced the same chaotic conditions with large numbers of displaced people, thriving black markets, and much general anxiety and despair. Cooperation between the European states has traditionally not had a police focus. The cooperation on security matters on an international level has focused on peace, not crime control. In 1949, the Council of Europe was established by ten states as a common European forum for cooperation. The history of the European Union (EU) treaty developments shows leaps in the integration or 'proximisation' of the EU cooperation. The focus was on creating an economic and monetary union with more common policies and policies of integration. The major expectations were of a better overall structure and strategy for internal security, interacting with the strategy for information exchange and a greater emphasis on harmonisation as an integration tool.
