The control of entry to, and residence within, national territory, citizenship, civil liberties, law, justice, and order lie very close to the core of the state. Nevertheless, the permeability of borders within the European Union (EU) has prompted cooperation among governments, and in fewer than 20 years, justice and home affairs (JHA) have moved from a peripheral aspect to a focal point of European integration. External events, such as the Arab uprisings in 2011 and the war in Syria starting in the same year, and internal shocks—like the terrorist attacks in Paris (2015); Brussels, Nice, Berlin (2016); Barcelona and London (2017)—have heightened the urgent need for shared solutions. But national agencies concerned with combating crime, fighting terrorism, and managing borders, immigration, and asylum remain reluctant to pool sovereignty in these sensitive areas. The crisis of the Common European Asylum System in 2015 has exposed deep divisions among the member states, and rising politicization, coupled with anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic sentiments, points to the limits of European policy-making in these core areas of statehood.