Luxembourg, 11/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - In the presence of the High Representative Javier Solana and the anti-terrorism coordinator Gijs de Vries, Monday's General Affairs Council called upon the Member States to catch up on their delays in applying anti-terrorism, legal and police cooperation measures adopted in the wake of 11 September. None of the measures for which the Member States are lagging behind has been applied by all, counter to the commitments made by the European Council (EUROPE of 9 October, p.4).
In the conclusions adopted by the Luxembourg Council, the Foreign Ministers stressed that "important steps remain to be taken by the European Union and its Member States fully to respect the commitments made in the EU's anti-terrorist action plan". The conclusions refer in particular to the European arrest warrant and the joint investigation teams, which are legal cooperation instruments for all serious crimes. On 9 September, France and Spain announced their intentions to create a first joint investigation team, to be devoted to the fight against terrorism by ETA. The conclusions underline the importance of cooperation with third countries in the fight against terrorism. The Council welcomes the "greater visibility of the EU's commitment". The Council's working group against terrorism (COTER) has drawn up a list of seven countries with which the EU must work as a priority in the field of cooperation and assistance against terrorism, said a European diplomatic source. The Council also welcomed the "improvement of exchanges of information between the reinforced SitCen, the information and security services of the Member States and Europol". The Council has started work on the extension of its information analysis cell (SitCen) to representatives of Interior Ministers, a move decided on back in June. Contacts have been established, but recruitment will remain low for the next few months, said a European source. Some half a dozen Member States are already taking part in the external affairs plank of SitCen.