Brussels, 22/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - On 15 October, the Forum Europe and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation organised, in Brussels, a conference on the theme "How Credible are Europe's Anti-Terrorism Defences?" In his speech, Christoph Heusgen, Head of the Planning and Early Warning Unit of the Council of the European Union said that the attacks in Bali are a reminder that terrorism is a constant threat. He pointed out that September 11 was not as dramatic for Europeans, with terrorist groups like ETA in Spain, the Red Army Faction in Germany and the Red Brigades in Italy, but that it was like Pearl Harbor for the Americans. Bali showed that terrorism is a global threat, he said. Defending the credibility of Europe, Mr Heusgen outlined the "wide range" of measures taken by the EU to counter terrorism. Amongst those measures were the action plan approved at the summit in Brussels on 21 September 2001, European support for UN Security Council Resolutions, and decisions by European justice and home affairs ministers on a common European arrest warrant and on streamlining police cooperation. Mr Heusgen said that European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) is not limited to Petersburg tasks. He recalled that the EU would take over the mission of the International Police Task Force in Bosnia as of January 2003. Mr Heusgen concluded that there are shortcomings in Europe's anti-terrorism defences but that the EU is on track. He also stressed the importance of economic programmes and looking at the roots of terrorism. This last point was echoed by the Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Sulaiman Abdulmanan. On the other hand, Rob de Wijk, Head of the Research Centre at the Royal Netherlands Military Academy, expressed a pessimistic view about Europe's anti-terrorism defences, despite "no shortage of policies in the EU". In addition to political will, he cited a lack of European assets for homeland defence: special forces and anti-tactical ballistic missile defences. There are sufficient assets, according to Professor de Wijk, in light infantry for border patrols. But he posed several questions: - Would there be European or national border units? - Paid for by whom? - Who would decide their redeployment? - Will nations lend scarce assets to other nations? The Algerian Ambassador to Berlin, Halim Benattallah, spoke of cooperation between Mediterranean countries and the EU and NATO. He pointed out that terrorism has been on the agenda of the EU troika's discussions with Mediterranean countries since November 1997.
In the second session, on whether post-September 11 responses are weakening or strengthening transatlantic relations, Ambassador Alexis Brouhns, Representative of Belgium to the EU Political and Security Committee, outlined the results achieved by the EU. He concluded that criticism of the US should keep in mind the strengthening of the EU. Robert Cooper, Director General of the Directorate General of External Relations of the Council of the EU, noted a "wide measure of agreement" between the US and Europe on the Middle East recognised there was divergence in military capabilities, making military cooperation more difficult and causing a divergence in views on the use of force. Finally, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Planning and Operations Edgar Buckley expressed a need for cooperation with the EU, although he said that the EU is not easy to work with for NATO for structural reasons. "We must try harder", he concluded.