Na bomaanslagen Madrid: oproep tot betere uitwisseling informatie tussen nationale veiligheidsdiensten (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Member states are facing one of the biggest tests of European integration in the aftermath of the Madrid attacks: how far to go in exchanging intelligence information.

As the EU struggles to find a co-ordinated response in an area that is one of the last bastions of sovereign power - the limits in the political will between member states has become glaringly obvious.

This was something acknowledged by the European Commission on Tuesday (16 March).

There is a "certain culture of secrecy ... that has proven counterproductive", said Commission top spokesperson Reijo Kemppinen.

"Member states have to learn to trust each other and trust European institutions".

He added that the European Commission at its weekly meeting discussed improving the exchange of information between authorities.

This push for intelligence sharing is something justice and home affairs commissioner Antonio Vitorino will ask member states to consider on Thursday.

The issue will also discussed by EU justice and home affairs ministers at an extraordinary meeting on Friday.

However, this goes to the core of national sovereignity with many member states so far reluctant to take this further step.

Germany and France appear to have already dismissed the idea of an equivalent to the US' Central Intelligence Agency - something recently mooted by Austria.

"I think the main task is to improve cooperation between the existing intelligence services", said German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder after a meeting in Paris today with the French President, Jacques Chirac.

But improving intelligence between member states would be a big step up from the current situation.

Europol, a body set up in 1995 to pool and exchange information between police forces and member states, is still not taken seriously by member states.

Confusion

A sign of the confusion caused by the sudden activity in the justice and home affairs area is the myriad of ideas, often overlapping, currently coming out of the EU as a direct result of the Madrid bombings - from both the European Commission and the EU Presidency - about ways to go forward.

An idea that may have already fallen at the first hurdle is a specific Commissioner to deal with anti-terrorism.

The EU often displays a knee-jerk reaction to call for a "Mr This" or a "Ms That" when a new problem arises, said Mr Kemppinen .

However, one thing the commission will be doing is to bash member states' heads together for justice and home affairs legislation that is taking ages to go through EU channels.

This includes legislation on the fight against terrorism, on money laundering and joint investigation teams.