Brussels, 03/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 3 December, the EU counter-terror coordinator (CTC) Gilles de Kerchove, urged the EU27 to make the training of terrorists outside the EU a crime. In a report submitted to the EU home office ministers, he says that most terror plots revealed in recent years involve “foreign fighters” and he therefore suggests that legal systems should make it possible to send people who have attended terror training in the EU or elsewhere a crime in the EU by changing the EU framework-directive on terrorism. In the report, de Kerchove says the EU should devote more resources to combatting terrorism, calling for the member states to give more development aid to regions where extremist groups operate (like Yemen, Pakistan and Sub-Saharan Africa) to help the local authorities tackle extremism. He said a step change in EU funding for tackling terrorism was needed, adding that if the EU wants to be a leading player in promoting international stability, then it will have to provide proper resources. He points out in the report, however, that air travel is one of the main priorities for Islamic extremists but Europe is badly protected against the risk of attack. He said that the EU should make a more in-depth analysis of failings in the main air transport infrastructure and there is a clear danger that as fewer people travel by air, then terrorists may decide to attack land transport. (B.C./transl.fl)