Lorne. Do you think you will be safe?
EU moves to break U.S. deals on ports
Gregory Crouch The New York Times
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
NIJMEGEN, Netherlands The European Union is taking legal action against four member countries for breaking ranks and signing up for a U.S. program meant to prevent the use of cargo containers by terrorists.
The program, called the Container Security Initiative, calls on American customs officers to be stationed in foreign ports and work side by side with local inspectors to screen containers bound for the United States for any weapons or hazardous materials that might be used by terrorist groups.
The EU is moving against Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium, all of which reached agreements with the United States to take part in the program, and it is considering action against Britain, Italy and Spain.
The Union says that the deals effectively give cargo passing through participating ports preferential treatment, and that shippers will start to divert cargo bound for the United States to those ports from others in the EU. Under its rules, the EU argues, individual members are not allowed to make such deals; the same trade preferences must apply to all 15 members and not be negotiated individually.
The legal action by the Union, called an infringement proceeding, is the latest evidence of a widening policy gulf between the United States and some European nations over security issues and a possible war in Iraq.
"Unfortunately, it is another example of a rift," said a European Union spokesman, Jonathan Todd. "Given the stakes, we sincerely hope that we can achieve a constructive outcome, because it is in the interests of both sides to work together."
Todd said that the EU had sent representatives to Washington to negotiate a blanket agreement to cover all 15 member nations, but that they had received little response.
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