BRUSSELS, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Is the European Union capable of preventing a Sept. 11, 2001-style terrorist attack on its territory? At a high-level seminar in Brussels Monday, most security experts agreed huge strides had been made since the attacks in the United States, but that large gaps still remained.
"What has happened in Europe in the last 2-1/2 years has been very significant," said Kenneth Moss of the National Defense University in Washington. "Terrorism has made us realize the importance of the EU."
In the immediate aftermath of the al-Qaida attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people, EU governments acted swiftly to prevent a similar strike occurring on European soil. They agreed to create an EU-wide arrest warrant -- a measure that came into force last month -- stepped up security at airports, froze more than $35 million of terrorist-linked funding, drew up a common definition of terrorism and an EU list of terrorist organizations and gave extra powers and resources to Europol, the Union's police body.
The Brussels-based organization has also worked hand-in-hand with the United States to stamp out terrorism. Despite sharp criticism of the treatment of al-Qaida prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the EU's long-standing opposition to the death penalty, a mutual extradition treaty was signed with Washington last year. A series of measures to improve safety at container ports and on board planes has also been agreed.
For 15 fiercely independent states that have traditionally viewed security matters as the last bastion of sovereignty, Sept. 11, 2001, brought about something of a sea change in attitudes. Says Moss: "Before 9/11 only six states had laws criminalizing terrorism."
In the European Security Strategy drawn up by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, terrorism is mentioned as the bloc's No. 1 threat.
"Terrorism puts lives at risk; it imposes large costs; it seeks to undermine the openness of our societies and it poses a growing strategic threat to the whole of Europe," says the paper, which was rubber-stamped by EU leaders in December.
These are fine words, but many security analysts wonder whether the EU's anti-terrorism strategy amounts to much more than that.
"The EU has a tendency to talk a lot, plan a lot and meet a lot but it does not focus much on getting things done," says Gustav Lindstrom of the EU Institute for Security Studies in Paris. "Europeans need to put their money where their mouth is."
Daniel Keohane, a defense expert at the London-based Center for European Reform think tank, is also skeptical of the EU's ability to deal with the new breed of international terrorist.
"Europe's security agencies -- intelligence, police and armed forces -- are organized in ways more suited to fighting the battles of the Cold war era."
Noting that al-Qaida-style terrorist groups are "quite different" from long-standing European organizations such as ETA in Spain or the IRA in Northern Ireland, Keohane writes: "Since the terrorist threat exists both inside and outside the EU, governments cannot afford to maintain the traditional distinction between external and internal security. Increasingly, governments need to focus on the threats rather the territory."
To date, no al-Qaida attack has taken place on EU soil -- despite numerous attempts and the presence of dozens of terrorist cells in Europe. But this has not stopped the organization targeting Europeans in 'soft' targets such as Turkey, Tunisia or Indonesia.
The U.S. response to attacks on its citizens -- whether in New York or Nairobi, Kenya -- has been to globalize the war on terror by sending troops to Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines and elsewhere. But many European states are uncomfortable with the notion of pre-emption or even of treating the fight against terrorism as a battle that can be won or lost.
Susanne Welter, from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the New Defense Agenda organized seminar that European governments were "well prepared" to prevent 9/11-style attacks. However, the official added there would never be "100 percent security" because of Europeans attachment to freedom of speech and the rule of law.
"We do not want to give up these freedoms easily," said Welter. "If we close ourselves off, we will in the end give in to terrorism."
Decades of terrorist outrages on EU soil have lead to a certain weariness among Europeans when it comes to dealing with violent fanatics. But Welter warns of the threat posed by complacency. "The further time progresses after 9/11 the shorter the public's memory becomes. I only hope we will not have to learn things the hard way like the United States did."
U.S. diplomats say they are "very satisfied" with the level of cooperation between Brussels and Washington in the fight against terrorism. But no EU state has set up the European equivalent of the U.S. Homeland Security department and many have been reluctant to let American officials have sensitive air passenger data, inspect containers in European port or allow armed guards on to aircraft.
Moss says it would help the United States if EU countries stepped up judicial cooperation and gave Europol investigative powers similar to the FBI. But member states are unlikely to cede national control over such policies in a hurry. Says Keohane: "The EU remains a patchwork of 15 (soon to be 25) different security establishments, with all the inefficiency that implies."
The need for cross-border cooperation to tackle terrorism in Europe is glaring. Analysis by Eurocontrol, an aviation body, shows that even if hijacked planes followed the same trajectories as the three which were used to such deadly effect on 9/11, five to six EU states would automatically become involved. Yet, as the Czech Ambassador to NATO Karel Kovanda pointed out: four out of the seven eastern European states set to join the alliance in May do not have the ability to take out renegade aircraft.
For Lindstrom the conclusion is depressing. "In Europe we are sitting ducks. With Schengen (the passport-free system of movement in the EU) once you are in you can do a lot of damage. The possibilities are enormous."
