Six ministers meet to discuss anti-terror issues

Interior ministers from the six biggest EU member states will gather in the UK today (25 October) for their regular 'G6' meeting - an informal setting that allows them to move the discussion on anti-terror issues forward.

Ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain will meet their British counterpart John Reid in Warwickshire, England for a two-day meeting also covering illegal immigration and organised crime.

Although the meetings do not give rise to any formal decisions, the ministers represent the majority of the EU's population and their discussions, away from both public scrutiny and the bloc's more cumbersome 25-minister meetings, are seen as a way of reaching compromises on tough issues.

The UK Home Office said the meeting would "explore how they can work together," and look at sharing ideas and "best practice," according to the BBC.

Anti-terror issues have topped the bloc's agenda in recent months with the alleged transatlantic air terror plot exposed in August prompting a crackdown on airline security measures and a raft of more general anti-terrorism steps.

But the bloc's internal security has rarely been off the agenda since the September 2001 attacks in the US, followed by the March 2004 Madrid bombs and the London underground bombs last year.

In August, Mr Reid spoke about a "persistent" terror threat in the EU and expressed his frustration that member states were often at different stages in implementing security measures or that laws were not put in place uniformly.

"It's very important that the measures that are taken in one country are reflected in other countries because we want equal security for all our countries," he said in August.

The G6, previously the G5 before Poland joined, was set up in 2003 and meets around twice a year.