Vergaande samenwerking tussen Benelux, Duitsland en Oostenrijk inzake terrorismebestrijding (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Five EU countries have signed a deal to move ahead in strengthening their police co-operation in the fight against terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal immigration.

A declaration signed on Friday (28 May) by the interior ministers of Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria says "there is an urgent need that bordering countries co-operate more closely and take the appropriate measures" to fight terrorism and cross-border threats.

At the heart of the measures announced is the need for the countries to increase their information sharing, an issue which had also been stressed in the aftermath of the Madrid bombings.

The Ministers - meeting in Brussels - have pledged to accelerate the cross border exchange of fingerprint data within 24 hours and share sensitive information such as DNA information.

The declaration also mentions the exchange of information on persons considered to be a threat, holding joint patrols, allowing armed guards on planes and organising joint returns for illegal immigrants.

Ministers, however, were keen to stress that theirs is not a "closed club".

"All the member states have the possibility to join this initiative", Belgian interior minister Patrick Dewael said.

Pioneering groups

This initiative has been driven by the countries that first signed the Schengen agreement - which abolished borders within the EU - but also with the inclusion of Austria.

However, France, although also one of the initial members of Schengen, has not joined this pioneering group yet.

"The Schengen agreement foresaw that there could be some closer regional police cooperation", Luxembourg justice minister Luc Frieden told the EUobserver.

This is not the first time that EU countries have decided to move ahead of others in the sphere of Justice and Home Affairs - the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain known as the G5, have been holding regular meetings.

The Belgian interior minister Patrick Dewael stressed on Friday the need to move faster and the former French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy was quoted saying last March that with 25 countries "it's very difficult to work and to get anything more than just rhetoric".

The European Commission, however, did not appear to be concerned about this development.

"Its perfectly normal for Member States to meet together and discuss areas in which they wish to make progress", the Commission's spokesperson for Justice and Home Affairs said.

"The development of such a process could well be in the interest of the Community and could well trigger some ideas".