EU security: The shock of Madrid has focused attention on the need to pool intelligence, writes Denis Staunton.
As mounting evidence suggests that last week's bombings in Madrid were the work of Islamic fundamentalists, EU governments have united in calling for more European co-operation in fighting terrorism.
Justice and Home Affairs ministers will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday and the Taoiseach announced yesterday that the Irish presidency will bring forward a package of anti-terrorism proposals at next week's EU summit.
The proposals will include a revised version of an Action Plan against terrorism agreed by EU leaders a few weeks after the attacks in the US on September 11th, 2001, and the early adoption of a commitment contained in the draft constitutional treaty to assist EU partners in the event of terrorist attacks.
The Irish presidency is considering the appointment of a "security co-ordinator" to streamline the EU's anti-terrorist activities and improve co-operation with non-EU countries.
This falls short of a proposal advanced yesterday by the Commission president, Mr Romano Prodi, to appoint a commissioner responsible for the fight against terrorism.
The Taoiseach said yesterday that the EU would "strive to improve mechanisms for cooperation between police and security services and promote effective, systematic collaboration in intelligence services between member- states".
Many of the measures proposed build on action taken in the EU following September 11th, including a decision to harmonise the definition of terrorist offences in all member-states and the introduction of a European arrest warrant to speed up extradition.
The Commission acknowledged yesterday that it was unable to say if these measures had led to the arrest and conviction of any terrorists or the prevention of terrorist attacks.
Austria and Belgium have proposed the establishment of a European intelligence agency that would pool anti-terrorist intelligence from all member-states.
National governments have been reluctant, however, to co-operate fully in sharing intelligence, partly because they fear that leaks could compromise national intelligence assets and operations.
EU officials say that intelligence co-operation has improved during the past two years but there is little support for establishing a European equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The Taoiseach's proposal to bring forward the implementation of a "solidarity clause" proposed in the EU's draft constitution will be welcomed by many member-states. The clause states that the EU and its member-states "shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a member-state is the victim of terrorist attack or natural or man-made disaster.
"The union shall mobilise all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources made available by the member-states to: prevent the terrorist threat in the territory of the member-states; protect democratic institutions and the civilian population from any terrorist attack; assist a member-state and its territory at the request of its political authorities in the event of a terrorist attack; and assist a member-state in its territory at the request of its political authorities in the event of a disaster."
The solidarity clause does not involve a mutual-defence pact because it does not commit member-states to assist each other in the event of war or invasion from a third country.
Apart from new proposals, the revised action plan against terrorism will seek to speed up the implementation of measures that have already been agreed. These include the European arrest warrant, which has yet to be implemented by all member-states, and measures to freeze the financial assets of terrorist groups.
In the wake of last week's attacks in Madrid, the Irish Presidency's proposals to improve anti-terrorist co-operation are likely to win support from EU leaders.
In the absence of substantial sharing of intelligence, however, the measures may not represent a significant enhancement of national anti-terrorist campaigns.
The worst outcome from next week's summit would be the introduction of measures that further restrict personal freedom in the EU but fail to strengthen Europe's defences against ruthless terrorists such as those who struck in Madrid.