External differentiated integration in EU Justice and Home Affairs Agencies: Extended or external governance?

Decentralised agencies play a preeminent role in EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) as they foster integration through operational cooperation as a complement and sometimes an alternative to integration through law. Organized as hubs of competent national authorities, the JHA agencies have opened up to cooperation with third countries early on. The paper examines the evolution, scope and depth of all third country participation in the EU’s external borders (Frontex) and police cooperation agencies (Europol) since the creation of these agencies based on the analysis of pertinent regulations, relevant policy documents and international agreements concluded between the agencies / EU and third countries. The leading question is whether and under what conditions third country participation moves beyond an external governance constellation whereby the former is a mere target of EU policies and under what conditions such cooperation develops into a genuine instance of extended governance in the sense of differentiated integration.