Anti- terrorist plan adopted by the EU
European leaders of the EU approved Thursday evening an anti- terrorist plan at the Brussels summet
The plan foresees the nomination of a "terrorism Czar", Gijs DeVries, former secretary of State for the interior in the Netherlands.
Another accord at the Brussels summit: the European leaders wish to adopt the European Constitution "later" in June during their next meeting the 17th and 18th, announced the current president of the EU.
The Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern announced his intention to convoke "as soon as possible" the intergovernmental Conference which should take the lead in negotiations.
The spokesmen on the European Constitution were frozen since the failure of the European leaders to agree on the draft of the treaty, during their last summit in December 2003. The 15 heads of State and of governments decided to activate "the solidarity claus of article 42 of the Constitutional Treaty for Europe", which foresees joint action if a member State is victim of a terrorist act.
Another theme tackled Thrusday evening, terrorism. The plan adopted two weeks after the attacks in Madrid, entails also a series of concrete measures like the anticipated integration by the end of 2005 of biometric data (digital fingerprints, the iris of the eye) in visas and passports.
"We, the EU, should be above all doing every thing we can to protect our citizens from the scourge of terrorism", declared the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, before the the press, who acts as the current president of the EU council. He also underlined the hold on consciousness aroused among his peers by the massacre of the 11th of March in Madrid. "The tragedy of Madridhas drawn out the necessity of making a compromise. We feel all the pressure pushing us to act for the well- being of Europe.
In virtue of the solidarity clause, "the member states will mobilize all the instruments at their disposal, including military means, in order to:
---prevent the terrorist threat on the territory of any one of them
---protect democratic institutions and the civil population from an eventual terrorist attack
---carry assistance to a member state candidate on his territory at the request of political authorities in the case of a terrorist attack.
It will come down to each member state and country adhering to the Union to choose the most appropriate means to conform itself to this engagement of solidarity vis a vis the affected countries.?
Jacques Chirac affirmed that the EU had made serious progress against terrorism thanks to this plan, and reiterated that it was necessary to "fight with determination and without any concession against terrorism. In the framework of the rul of law, it goes without saying."
The French president has however shown himself to be skeptical of the possibility for the intelligence services of the 25 to share all of their information, noting that "the same efficacy in the fight against terrorism requires that action will be considered and coordinated. One can't, you well know, throw all on the table, anyhow, that supposes a certain tact".
The chief of state cited an example of Franco- Spanish cooperation. But he rejected the idea according to which the G5 (Germany, Spain, France, Great Britain, Italy) would "monopolize action to the detriment of others. This is evidently a thesis either absurd or controversial, and which I have never been known to subscribe", he said.
The French president also insisted on the need to attack the "compost" that favors terrorism, such as "nregulated conflicts, sentiments of humiliation, poverty". "A clear and determined action" is necessary "to try to cut the roots of evil", affirmed Jacques Chirac.
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