From past imperfect to future perfect? A longitudinal study of the third pillar

This discussion pursues a “longitudinal” analysis of the development of European level efforts at crime control, looking at some of the past to inform an understanding of both the present Third Pillar centre of such policy and measures, and the prospects for future action in the wake of the Lisbon Treaty. It challenges the idea that this is a relatively new (post-Maastricht) area of European activity by emphasising a wellestablished history and dynamic of intergovernmental co-operation, and argues that this momentum will not decrease in the near future. The discussion also probes what may be seen as problematic within the method of the Third Pillar, and then what may prove to be the legacy of the Third Pillar, even in the event of its possible collapse should what is envisaged in the Lisbon Treaty actually take place.