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Policing policy in member states of the European Union (EU) increasingly overlaps with the latter's laws and policies, but what causes how national actors set and ‘project’ their respective positions within EU decision-making? Based upon research into the French and British cases in this field over the 2000s and sociological public policy theory, our analysis reveals that while these states formally share strongly centralized systems of co-ordination based on specialized ministries and interministerial mediation, considerable differences exist over the type of inter-administrative competition within each civil service and the linkages to politics this entails. Although national administrations and police forces in both countries have reorganized to engage in EU negotiations, intra-policy community tensions are much greater in France than in Britain. Secondly, the piece shows why British preference formation and projection in this sector is more systematically shaped by parliamentary, media and interest group scrutiny than its French counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]