Greece and Italy have failed to implement almost all European Union anti-terrorism measures despite tight deadlines set by EU leaders after the devastating Madrid bombings, EU diplomats said today.
The March 11 train bombings highlighted shortcomings in the 25-nation bloc's fight against terrorism and EU leaders ordered ministers to speed up implementation of agreed counter-terrorism steps and improve their cooperation.
EU justice and interior ministers, meeting in Luxembourg tomorrow, will adopt a damning report which names and shames member states that have failed to implement key legislation such as a European arrest warrant.
"Greece and Italy are doing really badly," one EU diplomat said, adding the two states had failed to meet almost every single target set by EU leaders after the March 11 bombings.
Athens is due to host the 2004 Olympic Games in two months and, rattled by criticism over delays in its preparations, has arranged for NATO to protect its airspace and coastal waters and mounted a massive $1.2 billion security operation.
The diplomat said Greece, Italy, Malta and the Czech Republic had all failed to implement the arrest warrant, which replaces lengthy extradition procedures with a fast-track handover of suspects sought for a string of serious crimes.
Germany is expected to have the warrant in place just in time for next week's EU summit. Denmark and Britain had the best track record, followed closely by Spain, Sweden and Finland, he said.
EU leaders will review progress made since the Madrid blasts when they meet in Brussels on June 17-18. They will also endorse EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana's plans for increased intelligence sharing after ministers discuss them this week.
Diplomats said Solana proposed expanding the role of the EU Situation Centre, where military officials assess threats posed by conflicts outside the EU, to include monitoring the internal threat of terrorism.