BRITAIN: Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, has called for a new, structured, "pan European" approach to the assessment of intelligence in the fight against international terrorism.
The commissioner made his call ahead of today's meeting of EU foreign ministers and just days after his warning that an al-Qaeda-type attack on London is probably "inevitable". Speaking on yesterday's Breakfast with Frost programme, Sir John said the suspected al-Qaeda bombings in Madrid should serve as "a wake-up call". And he suggested a new pan-European structure for analysing information should be based along the lines of Europol. While organisations such as Europol tackled criminal activities, he said, Europe lacked a unified anti-terrorist body.
"There is a need for far bigger co-ordination in a far more structured way than we have now, and I think Madrid is a big wake-up call to the fact that Europe needs to get its act in order in relation to that. There needs to be a structure which is useful, which analyses on a pan-European way some of the information we get, and the forensics."
The EU's foreign ministers will urge partner countries to clamp down on terrorism or see their relations with the bloc suffer.
The bloc intends to monitor efforts by all countries to defeat what it defines as terrorism and will temper its relations accordingly, according to a draft statement prepared for discussion by ministers. "This will be an influencing factor in EU relations with them," it said.
Today's meeting of foreign ministers follows an emergency session of EU interior and justice ministers on Friday to better co-ordinate the gathering and sharing of intelligence among EU members in the wake of the Madrid attacks.
Interior and justice ministers agreed to appoint an anti-terrorism co-ordinator and to boost intelligence sharing, while foreign ministers are expected to push for better cooperation with friends and allies and punish recalcitrants.
Ministers will also discuss the Middle East, Iran, Syria, and Western Balkans in the light of the violence in Kosovo last week.