EU leaders vow to boost operational co-operation on terrorism 

EU leaders have reviewed the progress made since the adoption,a few days after the 11 March terrorist attacks in Madrid, of the declaration on combating terrorism. While several agreements have been reached in the past twelve weeks, some key measures, such as the European Arrest Warrant, initially due to be implemented in January 2004, have still not been implemented in all Member States.

EU leaders welcomed the proposals by EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana on integrating an EU intelligence capacity on the internal and external terrorist threats in the Council Secretariat and re-establishing the Counter Terrorism Task Force within Europol. Javier Solana has been asked to implement such arrangements as soon as possible and report on progress to the December 2004 European Council (see

The European Council conclusions underline that "the appointment of an EU counter-terrorism co-ordinator will help to improve co-ordination and visibility of the EU's actions in this field".

The European Council has set priorities for EU action on terrorism and deadlines for the Council to reach agreement on:

• preparation of an overall strategy to enhance the protection of critical infrastructures (end 2004)
• exchange of information and cooperation concerning terrorist offences and on retention of communications data (June 2005)
• simplifying the exchange of information and intelligence between law enforcement agencies (December 2005).

Other anti-terrorist measures include:

• setting up an information policy for law enforcement
• drawing up a coherent overall approach on terrorist financing
• assessing the capabilities of Member States both in preventing and coping with the consequences of any type of terrorist attack.

Furthermore, EU leaders want the fight against terrorism to be integrated into EU external relations policy. The European Council conclusions underline that "combating terrorism must be a key element in political dialogue with third countries, with emphasis on ratification and implementation of International Conventions, preventing the financing of terrorism, addressing factors which contribute to terrorism, as well as non-proliferation and arms control". EU leaders also emphasised that "solidarity and international co-operation are integral to combating terrorism and to addressing its root causes" and said the EU is seeking to co-operate more closely with international organisations, particularly the UN, and to maintain the closest possible co-ordination with the United States and other partners. Terrorism will figure high on the agenda of the EU-US Summit - where a joint statement is due to be adopted on 26 June 2004.