Spanish police, with the support of a number of southern European countries, have proposed a European register of terrorist groups with rewards for information leading to their capture, writes Jim Cusack, Security Editor
The proposal was made at a closed conference organised by Europol, the EU agency set up to facilitate exchange of information between police forces. The proposal, however, is beyond the terms of the Europol Convention and would require a change of the convention terms.
The conference "agreed to study the possibility of setting up a database of the Union's most wanted terrorists", according to a report in the newspaper, El Pais. There was also a proposal for drawing up a plan to offer rewards to those who provide information on terrorists.
The conference, the first to be held by Europol specifically on terrorism, was attended by senior officers from all 15 EU stations, including a senior Garda officer. It agreed to promote mutual recognition of judicial rulings on terrorism.