Briefing Paper 1 (published 1 August 2005)
The first briefing paper in the EU and terrorism series looks at the historical development and current context of the EU’s work on counter terrorism in a globalised world.
Read “Terrorism – Historical Development and Context” (PDF – 89 KB)
Briefing Paper 2 (published 5 August 2005)
The second briefing paper in this series looks at terrorism in the context of the EU treaty.
Read “Terrorism in Context of the Constitutional Treaties” (PDF – 111 KB)
Briefing Paper 3 (published 10 August 2005)
Following the events of September 11th 2001, the European Council declared the Action Plan on the Fight Against Terrorism on 21st September. It established terrorism as a top priority of the European Union and committed all Member States to working together on the issue. This briefing paper looks at the main points of The Action Plan and Declaration.
Read “Terrorism – The Action Plan and Declaration” (PDF – 117 KB)
Briefing Paper 4 (published 20 August 2005)
Understanding the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, established under the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, and the European Defence Agency (EDA) is vital when looking at the EU response to terrorism. The EU also created a Counter-Terrorism Coordinator in March 2004. This briefing paper looks at what the CFSP, EDA and counter-terrorism contribute to counter-terrorism in the EU.
Briefing Paper 5 (published 30 August 2005)
One of the main EU bodies which addresses the issue of terrorism directly and indirectly is the Directorate General of Justice and Home Affairs. This briefing paper looks at how this Directorate General contributes to counter terrorism.
Read “Terrorism – Justice and Home Affairs” (PDF – 116 KB)
Briefing Paper 6 (published 1 September 2005)
The EU has developed specific civil protection programmes in the case of a terrorist attack. This briefing paper discusses these programmes.
Read “Terrorism – Civil Protection” (PDF – 60 KB)
Briefing Paper 7 (published 10 September 2005)
Since 11 September 2001 coordination efforts between the EU and the US to combat the threat of terrorism have increased significantly. The culmination of EU-US cooperation has resulted in the EU-US Declaration on Combating Terrorism on 26 June 2004.
Read “Terrorism – US-EU Joint Actions” (PDF – 98 KB)
Briefing Paper 8 (published 20 September 2005)
This briefing paper looks at NATO in the context of terrorism and the idea of collective defence and the reality of its impact on counter terrorism.
Read “Terrorism – The EU and NATO” (PDF – 63 KB)
Briefing Paper 9 (published 1 October 2005)
International cooperation is a key part of counter terrorism measures. This goes beyond EU-US cooperation and includes the UN. This briefing paper discusses the UN approach and UN-EU coordination.
Read “Terrorism – The EU and the United Nations” (PDF – 117 KB)
Briefing Paper 10 (published 1 November 2005)
This paper provides an overview of the following official EU documents, noting their key points:
- The Hague Programme, a 5 year pan-EU plan put forward by the Directorate General
Justice and Home Affairs - The Revised EU Action Plan on Terrorism of June 2005 and
- The EU Strategy to Counter Recruitment to Terrorism and Radicalisation.
Read “The Hague Programme, revised action plan and anti-recruitment strategy” (PDF – 100 KB)
Briefing Paper 11 (published 20 November 2005)
A Terrorist attack on the London transport network in July 2005 pushed counter terrorism to the top of the agenda for the British Presidency of the EU. This paper outlines the key points in the new EU counter-terrorism strategy as of December 2005, and the subsequent action plan. It concludes with comments on likely future EU counter-terrorism action.
Read “The new EU strategy, new action plan and the Future” (PDF – 239 KB)
Briefing Paper 12 (published 5 November 2005)
The Council of Europe has a history in developing measures to tackle the terrorist threats faced by its member states. This briefing paper outlines key elements in The European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (1977), The Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (2005) and discusses the issues around human rights and counter terrorism, in particular in relation to the “War of Terror” following the events of September 11 2001.
Read “Council of Europe Responses to the Threat Posed by Terrorism” (PDF – 106 KB)