European Union fight against terrorism

Since June 2002, the Union adopted a common definition of terrorist offences, sanctions harmonised in the Member States and established the European arrest warrant.

It was this measure that allowed the Italy in the summer of 2005, deliver to the UK authorities, in record time, one of the alleged perpetrators of the July 7 bombings in London.

In March 2004, the Madrid bombings urged the European Council to build the foundations for a common strategy in the fight against terrorism. And to orchestrate community collaboration, Brussels has created a post of Coordinator, attributed to the Dutchman Gijs de Vries. The mission was to coordinate the actions of the competent national authorities in particular with regard to prevention of terrorist acts as well as to protect its citizens and sensitive infrastructures..

At the same time, the European Union adopted the biometric passport, to fight against the falsification of identity documents and to strengthen cross-border transport security.

Brussels has increased security measures on access to firearms, explosives and other materials used to manufacture bombs. The powers of Europol, the police Union's Government, have been strengthened for the fight against cyber-terrorism, recruitment and terrorist financing networks. But the political will did not follow all this movement.Member States validate the creation of ad hoc institutions, but hesitate to provide them the necessary means.

As for national information officers, they also are reluctant to comply with the European requirements for sharing sensitive information.

All this is leagues away from an FBI or a CIA at European level. The States prefer the bilateral cooperations.

For all this, Gijs de Vries resigned in 2007.

The European Commission took six months to find a replacement: the Belgian Gilles de Kerchove.

At what stage is the Europe in the fight against terrorism? A question we put to our guest in Brussels, Gilles de Kerchove.

Gilles de Kerchove-the first priority is the question of these young Europeans, but not just of young Europeans, North Africans, the youth of the Middle East that joins in Syria, many to do Jihad, to participate in the fighting and into terrorist groups.

euronews-what is being done to fight this phenomenon?

Gilles de Kerchove â€" First we have all prevention work. We try to identify best practices to prevent young people don't leave. This is the primeiira priority. Also tried to detect those who depart and we do not know. And, in fact, there are many Europeans who are not known in the intelligence services and police. We need to put in place special arrangements. There is also to work with the transit countries, such as Turkey, which is the most widely used transit area, and work with other countries that are a source of combatants, like Tunisia, which has very important numbers, and other countries in the region, such as Egypt, Morocco, etc.

euronews â€" ten years after the attacks in Madrid, believes that there may be a new large-scale attack in Europe?

Gilles de Kerchove-our intelligence sources believe that the threat is serious and, in part, linked to the phenomenon of European fighters departing for Syria. I'd say that the threat is more diffuse, more diversified and therefore more complex. The day after the attacks of 11 September, we were faced with an organisation structured as a multinational, Al Qaeda. It was simpler to identify people we had to pursue. Now, proliferated a sort of "franchises". We have two, in Syria and in Iraq. Al-Qaida's heart continues in Afghanistan, the Arabian Peninsula, in the Sahel, in North Africa ... so with a great complexity. At the same time, if the threat is more complex, our response is also more subtle and effective. In a way, allows us to compensate for things and after the attacks in Madrid and London bombings of such great magnitude in Europe. I am convinced that we are better prepared, we are smarter and more effective. But the threat remains serious.

euronews â€" any progress in terms of cooperation?

Gilles de Kerchove â€" A big part of our job, especialy mine, is cooperation with third countries, countries that are faced with terrorism. What we do is to ensure an appropriate legal device, since there is no definition of terrorism sufficiently wide to allow suppressing political opponents, but, unfortunately, it happens. There are improving the exchange of information â€" is one of the great lessons of the Commission, which examined what didn't work and that led to 9/11 â€" that is, to improve the way the services of information, police and justice share information.

euronews â€" Precisely in relation to obtaining information, there are irregularities on the part of some States on behalf of the anti-terrorist policy. Governments seem to have fewer qualms about affect the private life of citizens, not only the United States but here in Europe too. What do you say about this?

Gilles de Kerchove â€" we're very attentive to ensure a good balance between the need to gather data that no one denies being fake, nobody will know that obstacle is to prevent a terrorist attack, and at the same time respect the private life. We are working on different projects, legislative projects to strengthen the European data protection device. And we have all the international action, a hard debate with the United States, because after the revelations of Snowden, and third countries we must make data protection a important condition for our cooperation.

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