Spanish terror attack galvanises Europe
The EU was under pressure today to convene high-level security talks in the wake of the Spanish bombings to assess what additional anti-terrorism measures to take.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell was in consultation with his EU counterparts to see when a meeting could be held, said spokesman James McIntyre.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and German Interior Minister Otto Schily called for urgent EU talks to look at what new risks the Madrid rail bombings, which killed 201 and injured 1,500 others, exposed.
EU officials said a special justice and interior ministers’ meeting could be held next Monday, just three days before the EU’s regular spring summit, which is also expected to focus on terrorism.
“We absolutely have to speed up the work,” said EU spokesman Reijo Kemppinen, adding that EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino was working on new proposals to improve EU co-ordination on fighting terrorism.
Spanish authorities are still trying to determine the validity of a video claim that an Islamic terrorist group linked to al-Qaida was behind the attack.
Schily said that if al-Qaida was behind the bombings ”then it would mean a new quality of threat for all of Europe.”
Concerns have grown over European vulnerability despite an anti-terrorist action plan adopted by EU leaders following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
A recent report by Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign and security policy chief, found “co-ordination problems” persisted in the EU’s approach and suggested beefing up cooperation with other countries and with Nato.
The plan included adopting a common definition of terrorism, boosting security at airports and freezing assets of terrorists and terrorist organisations.
But delays have plagued other efforts, including the establishment of a European arrest warrant, an EU-wide border security agency and co-ordination between national criminal investigators.
Several countries, including Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Austria have yet to implement the warrant.
Solana’s report called for “increased cooperation in the field of intelligence,” to anticipate threats and said ”an EU specific anti-terrorism approach in relation to transport is lacking,” including security on trains and subways.
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said the EU had to quickly push forward with new counterterrorism measures.
“I’ve proposed that we start to reflect on the creation of a European intelligence centre or bureau, because I think it’s necessary that all services of intelligence, security, police and Europol work together to analyse the threats that exist.”
Last month, other EU nations gave only a lukewarm reception to an Austrian proposal for a European Intelligence Agency, similar to the CIA in the United States, to improve co-ordination in rooting out terrorist cells or countering planned attacks.
The European Commission today unveiled its own initiative to raise billions of euro to promote European research into technology to improve security – plans which were already underway before last Thursday’s attacks.
“The bombs remind us the urgency and the need to prepare for all these threats to our security,” said EC President Romano Prodi. “A joint effort and increased investment at a European level is indispensable.”
