The European Union lacks the policymaking and enforcement mechanisms characteristic of nation states. Although the dispersed, cell-based network of international terrorism requires a consensus-based global cooperation among nations, the European Union has yet to show that it has the features to achieve this goal. Shortly after September 11, the European Union enacted a host of measures to combat terrorism by drawing on the assets of its member states. Despite all the activity of the European Union and its member states, however, there is no mechanism for ensuring that member states will implement the counterterrorism policies and practices recommended by the European Union. One of the key European Union documents on counterterrorism measures is the European Union Plan of Action on Combating Terrorism. It is designed to promote cooperative and individual action by member states on approximately 150 counterterrorism measures. These measures are not being pursued effectively or on a large scale because they did not stem from a democratically constructed consensus and do not provide for means to ensure compliance. This has resulted in a weak, inconsistent, and fragmented counterterrorism response among European Union member states. 93 notes