Hybrid security: From the area of freedom, security, and justice to the security union and beyond

The chapter focuses on current transformations in the field of EU security. It argues that within what has emerged as a 'Security Union', the most prominent present dynamic is the 'hybridisation' of security, i.e. the increasing integration of internal and external, civil and military security. The main driver of this transformation is the emphasis on phenomena framed as 'hybrid threats', notably migration and disinformation. The hybridisation of EU security has significant implications that require a critical examination of EU security policy. On the one hand, the framing of migration as a hybrid threat has brought to the fore the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, commonly known as Frontex, as a crucial actor that can be seen as a laboratory of cooperation for a future common European police force and army. The lack of parliamentary oversight and the poor effectiveness of judicial control over Frontex's actions emerge as the most important and urgent issues to be addressed. On the other hand, in the field of disinformation, no common actor has emerged and EU actions are still largely uncoordinated. Nevertheless, a fundamental tension emerges between the framing of disinformation as a security issue and fundamental democratic values such as freedom of information and expression. The hybridisation of EU security therefore requires contributions from all disciplines involved in the cross-disciplinary field of EU security research, namely securitization theories, legal theory and philosophical research, in order to further explore and assess the implications of the current dynamics.