Europe, Headlines

POLITICS-EU: Anti-Terror Plans in Trouble

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Apr 7 2004 (IPS) - Anti-terrorism measures agreed by European leaders only a few weeks back have run into difficulties.

Following the March 11 Madrid bomb attacks, European Union (EU) leaders agreed March 25 to a wide range of cross-border efforts to fight terrorism.

These included appointment of an anti-terror coordinator, improvement in intelligence cooperation, more access to communication data (over telephones and the internet), and the setting up of a European register on convictions.

But the plans have run into trouble over responsibilities and budgetary restrictions.

Concerns have been raised over the powers of the anti-terrorism coordinator and how he could persuade intelligence agencies of the EU’s member states to share more information.

The coordinator Gijs de Vries who was appointed just over a week ago, has indicated already that the responsibility lies primarily with member states.

"My personal responsibilities are restricted," de Vries told members of the European Parliament’s citizens freedoms and rights committee Tuesday (Apr. 6).

"The EU has limited responsibility on terrorism," he said. "Combating terrorism is primarily a national responsibility and subject to national parliaments’ scrutiny." De Vries also stressed that "the Union will not replace the member states in the fight against terrorism."

Some observers are concerned that member states may not support de Vries in his mission.

"The decision to appoint Gijs de Vries as the new counter-terrorism coordinator is an important step, but whether he will receive the support and trust of the national secret services remains to be seen," said Mirjam Dittrich from the European Policy Centre.

Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament (MEP) Graham Watson told the BBC that there are "clearly concerns about whether countries can trust each other over intelligence. I think the question that needs to be asked is can we afford not to trust each other in these areas."

Some EU officials are also concerned that the anti-terrorism measures may be over-ambitious, given the bloc’s budgetary restrictions.

EU budget commissioner Michaele Schreyer said this week that the EU needs to increase spending to fund a raft of anti-terror laws and for the bloc’s enlargement in May.

"I think it is clear it is a very small budget and not big enough to fit the very ambitious agenda set out by national governments over the last month in particular," Schreyer told media representatives Monday (Apr. 5).

There are also political problems. Some EU officials and observers say that the proposed anti-terrorism measures are nothing new and that the goodwill that member states have shown since the Madrid bombings will evaporate.

Many officials say that what Europe needs is not new posts but implementation of measures agreed after the September 11 bombings in New York.

"We drew up an action plan to combat terrorism, we made all kinds of commitments, and then somehow a year or so after the attacks on New York, the enthusiasm for it seemed to just peter out," Schreyer said.

Didier Bigo from the Brussels-based Centre for European Studies says it is "striking" to see how the measures have been presented politically as being brand new and rather ambitious.

"They are, however, neither new nor particularly adequate in view of the apparent low degree of protection and guarantees of human rights, civil liberties of all EU citizens and the actual rule of law that they provide," he said.

Critics of the EU’s proposals say that the bloc must look beyond security to the root causes of terrorism.

"While no cause justifies terrorism we cannot afford to not deal with the issues that lie behind terrorism," Dittrich said. "What Europe needs, aside from enhanced coordination in security, is a long-term strategy to tackle the root causes of terrorism."