Solana kritisch over de wijze waarop EU-lidstaten terrorisme aanpakken (en)

An internal document drawn up by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and seen by French daily Le Monde is highly critical of measures put in place by member states to combat terrorism.

The report lists a whole host of inadequacies on the part of member states in the battle against terrorism.

Decisions adopted at EU level are not implemented in the member states, there is a lack of co-ordination between EU institutions and member states, intelligence services do not co-operate, member states prefer to act bilaterally than collectively. And the list goes on.

Furthermore, political dialogue between the EU and third parties such as the US "produce few concrete results", according to the document and "the objectives pursued by the EU are often imprecise and unclear".

But Mr Solana stresses that the fight against terrorism is the responsibility of the member states and that the EU should only play a part when it can bring "added value" and "tangible results".

The document will be used as the backdrop for discussions between ministers at the summit of European leaders and ministers next week (25-26 March).