As European Union leaders sit down in Brussels to make plans to combat international terrorism with set jaws and furrowed brows, they will protest their unwavering determination. The reality however is very different. The only thing that the EU members can do in concert is throw money at problems, often to very little effect.
Whatever the public platitudes of the politicians, national law enforcers, prosecutors, police and security agencies are at loggerheads. They are mutually suspicious and deeply reluctant to share high-level intelligence. This is particularly true of the British who pool intelligence with the United States. Europol, the organization which is supposed to coordinate Europe’s crime fighting efforts is largely using its $65 million budget to churn out statistics and reports. There certainly seems to have been not the slightest hint from Europol before the Madrid massacre that any such devastating attack was in the offing, anywhere in Europe.
Now that the Spanish voter has shown Al-Qaeda that its terrorism can change governments and policies, the European leaders know that one of their countries will be next. Britain is widely considered to be the next target. Ot it could be Poland, which has been a staunch Washington supporter in Iraq.
Europe’s problem is that in its attempted war on terrorism, as in so many of its other concerted enterprises, there is not the political will to make the provisions stick. Most EU legislation is honored in the breach, most particularly in southern Europe. This must add to security concerns for the coming summer’s Athens Olympics. It took Greek police 19 years to track down a murderous group of middle-class anarchists. What chance do they have against Al-Qaeda? NATO troops guarding borders and stadiums may be one thing but how well are EU police forces and intelligence agencies working together to help identify the terrorist cells who have had several years to make their plans?
Some European countries still have not implemented previously agreed security provisions such as the introduction of a single European arrest warrant. This would permit the rapid arrest and extradition of suspects to EU countries where they are wanted for questioning. A few members, such as Sweden, are concerned about civil liberties. They are uncomfortable with the argument that the world is at war with international terror and that in war, the public good must come before individual liberty. There can also unfortunately be no doubt that racists will be quick to try and exploit the anti-terror campaign. If, however, Europe could only manage to speak and act against terror with one voice, it could make clear that it was not only targeting terror but racial hatred as well.
