More practice?
In January 2005, 'Atlantic Storm', an international exercise to determine how governments would deal with a bioterrorist attack, was staged in Washington. The exercise posited a fictitious smallpox outbreak in European and American cities caused by terrorist attack. The real-time exercise showed that governments were in no measure ready, that there were insufficient stockpiles of vaccines and that thousands would die as governments argued over sharing out the available vaccines. Some governments closed borders to people fleeing danger zones. Newspapers called the results potentially catastrophic.
Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BTWC)
Annalisa Giannella, personal representative for non-proliferation to Javier Solana, European Council Secretary General, explained efforts being made to secure ratification and adherence to the 1975 Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BTWC). It has currently been ratified by 144 states. The BTWC bans the development or production of biological weapons other than for peaceful purposes. Problems have been encountered on how to verify compliance with the Convention and a sixth review conference to strengthen the convention is to take place in 2006.
Involve industry
Frank Rapoport, Partner in McKenna Long & Aldridge, moderating the afternoon session, advocated involving private pharmaceutical industry in preparing for biological attacks. He explained the US example of Project Bioshield. This legislation, passed in July 2004, provides for government funding to pharmaceutical companies to pay for research into drugs effective against chemical and biological attacks. There are currently plans to extend the scope of the legislation.
Mutual understanding
An issue which arose from the evening debate was an apparent lack of understanding on the part of US officials and commentators on how the European Union functions, the role of the institutions and their relationship with the member states. In response to a question on how the European Border Agency could function if borders were still controlled by the member states, Jonathan Faull, director general of Justice, Freedom and Security, explained: "the European Union is the member states."
The exchange highlighted the apparent difficulty of some US speakers in understanding the consensual nature of the European Union: the need to get agreement from member states and, on an increasing number of issues, the Parliament, before action is taken. This can be a difficult message to get through to a nation used to being led by a single President.
