This article provides an analysis of the introduction, implementation and implications of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for the European Union (EU) counterterrorism efforts. In addition, it demonstrates that EAW represents the only major practical application of mutual recognition in EU’s Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) pillar thus far. As such, experiences with EAW are bound to influence the ongoing debates concerning the most appropriate mode of governance in this pillar. The structure of the article is as follows. It begins with succinct overviews of the origins of EAW and its key features, respectively, followed by an analysis of the implementation delays and complications at the national level. The next section offers an assessment of the value-added of the EAW to the EU’s counterterrorism efforts. The principled objections to the EAW are summarized in section five. The implications of the adoption of EAW for the ongoing debates concerning the most appropriate mode of governance in Justice and Home Affairs are summarized in section six. The article concludes with a list of lessons learned from the introduction of EAW for both the EU’s current counterterrorism efforts in particular and future developments in the Justice and Home Affairs pillar in general.