Brussels, 21/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - "The terrorist threat is still great. It is out of the question to reduce vigilance. Everyone is well aware of this", Counter-Terrorist Coordinator Gijs de Vries told Agence Europe after his return from the Troika which brought Europeans and Americans together in The Hague on Saturday to discuss the theme of counter-terrorist cooperation (yesterday's EUROPE, p.10). Appointed by the European Council on 25 March in the wake of the attacks on 11 March, Gijs de Vries of the Netherlands took up his duties four days later. His main task is to coordinate all the work relating to terrorism within the Council and to ensure that the texts adopted are applied correctly.
In order to ensure progress is made, Mr de Vries highlights current strengthening of the Situation Centre (Sitcen), the Council unit for intelligence analysis responsible for gathering and diffusing information on areas in which the EU is involved or plans to be involved. Sitcen will henceforth also take an interest in the situation within the EU. This "will serve to analyse the threat not just in a single Union country but throughout Europe as such, to see what developments are taking place, for example, for radicalisation of Islamic circles". The procedure for bringing along experts from the various Ministries of the Interior is now open. Furthermore, with enlargement, the number of representatives of Foreign Ministries at Sitcen (six to date) should also be increased, Mr de Vries states.
"An area where not enough progress is being made is in application of decisions", Gijs de Vries deplores. It sometimes "takes time" to go through national parliaments. None of the legal and police cooperation texts adopted since 11 September 2001 has yet been applied throughout the EU (EUROPE of 18 September, p.8). "While agreeing at 150% that national parliaments have the right to work in a serious and detailed way, I believe it is quite possible to do this work faster: should one maintain a parliamentary reserve for over one year", Mr de Vries asks. Is it a matter of political blocking? "Not in most cases but there are exceptions", he stressed, citing the Czech President's refusal to sign the European arrest warrant.
As the other participants of the EU/US Troika had done the day before during a press conference (yesterday's EUROPE, p.10), the counter-terrorism coordinator sought throughout the interview to smooth things over, without wasting time over political differences or the after-effects of the war in Iraq. He insisted he was aware of such issues but that one should mention what is happening on the ground, and cited the excellent cooperation that exists at the level of security services, the fact that Europeans and Americans work together at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for international transport safety standards, and cooperation at Interpol for using the database on stolen passports. He said that, although he was born in the United States, he has never sought to obtain an American passport to which he would probably not even be entitled.
"Adding to the nuances, the EU has always maintained that the fight against terrorism must be carried out in respect of fundamental rights", Mr de Vries observed. Nonetheless, when asked whether Guantanamo should be tackled by the European Union in Informal JHA Council on 30 September (attended by US Attorney General John Ashcroft), he simply pointed out that "so far, the States that have prisoners there have been in direct contact with the US authorities", which, he says, he finds "quite normal".
When asked how long his mandate as counter-terrorism coordinator would be, he replied: "As long as necessary, as long as Javier Solana needs me".