- News>
- World
EU talks on new anti-terrorist laws far from complete
Faced with a tight deadline, European Union justice ministers are hoping they will agree Thursday on establishing a single European arrest warrant and define a list of terrorist organizations by the end of the year.
Faced with a tight deadline, European Union justice ministers
are hoping they will agree Thursday on establishing a single European arrest
warrant and define a list of terrorist organizations by the end of the year.
The 15 EU nations have been at pains to agree on what crimes should come under a new single warrant to replace laborious bilateral agreements. The issue has overshadowed the sense of unity on such issues as beefing up border security and on an EU definition of a terrorist act. Spurred by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US, the ministers have been working on a long to-do list to be finished by the upcoming Dec. 14-15 summit of EU government leaders.
It also called on them to cooperate more closely with the US in fighting terrorism, as well as closer E.U. police and security coordination at home. US officials have been pleased by the EU's quick response to requests from President Bush for more help in terrorist investigations. "Cooperation between the EU and the United States post-Sept. 11th began almost immediately in the fields of airport security, to financial freezing of assets," said a US government official, who refused to be identified. However several EU nations have reservations over how the joint arrest warrant should be applied and what it should cover.
Italy stands alone in wanting a shorter list of offenses on which crimes the warrant should apply, while the other 14 agreed on a list of 30 offenses, ranging from terrorism, trafficking of people, arms and drugs to murder and child pornography.
Meanwhile Austria, Greece and Denmark have said they could have problems adopting the warrant as their constitutions bar the extradition of nationals to other EU nations, throwing a further wrench into negotiations which touch on tightly-held areas of sovereignty. On the definition of terrorism, ministers have yet to agree on which crimes fall under a terrorist act, as well as penalties for those crimes.
Meanwhile civil rights activists have complained that the proposals could give EU police excessive powers to crack down on groups and activists such as anti-globalists from carrying out legitimate protests.
The ministers are also seeking common prison terms for terrorists among the member states.
The EU has already moved to freeze accounts of individuals and groups suspected of having links with international terrorist groups and has introduced a variety of new powers to Europol, its police investigation's unit. Efforts have also been underway to improve protection against possible chemical and bioterrorist attacks and the EU's head office has introduced proposals to set up a joint crisis center to coordinate emergency response to potential terrorist attacks within the union.
Bureau Report
The 15 EU nations have been at pains to agree on what crimes should come under a new single warrant to replace laborious bilateral agreements. The issue has overshadowed the sense of unity on such issues as beefing up border security and on an EU definition of a terrorist act. Spurred by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US, the ministers have been working on a long to-do list to be finished by the upcoming Dec. 14-15 summit of EU government leaders.
It also called on them to cooperate more closely with the US in fighting terrorism, as well as closer E.U. police and security coordination at home. US officials have been pleased by the EU's quick response to requests from President Bush for more help in terrorist investigations. "Cooperation between the EU and the United States post-Sept. 11th began almost immediately in the fields of airport security, to financial freezing of assets," said a US government official, who refused to be identified. However several EU nations have reservations over how the joint arrest warrant should be applied and what it should cover.
Italy stands alone in wanting a shorter list of offenses on which crimes the warrant should apply, while the other 14 agreed on a list of 30 offenses, ranging from terrorism, trafficking of people, arms and drugs to murder and child pornography.
Meanwhile Austria, Greece and Denmark have said they could have problems adopting the warrant as their constitutions bar the extradition of nationals to other EU nations, throwing a further wrench into negotiations which touch on tightly-held areas of sovereignty. On the definition of terrorism, ministers have yet to agree on which crimes fall under a terrorist act, as well as penalties for those crimes.
Meanwhile civil rights activists have complained that the proposals could give EU police excessive powers to crack down on groups and activists such as anti-globalists from carrying out legitimate protests.
The ministers are also seeking common prison terms for terrorists among the member states.
The EU has already moved to freeze accounts of individuals and groups suspected of having links with international terrorist groups and has introduced a variety of new powers to Europol, its police investigation's unit. Efforts have also been underway to improve protection against possible chemical and bioterrorist attacks and the EU's head office has introduced proposals to set up a joint crisis center to coordinate emergency response to potential terrorist attacks within the union.
Bureau Report