EU six agree to fight terrorism and illegal immigration
HELENA SPONGENBERG
27.10.2006 @ 09:27 CET
The EU's six largest countries have agreed to work together on fighting terrorism, organised crime and illegal immigration after a two-day informal meeting hosted by the UK.
The interior ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK – known as the G6 - met in Stratford-upon-Avon and agreed to crack down on tax fraud that could fund terrorism, to fight human trafficking, share more information about terrorist threats and make joint moves toward African countries to curb illegal migration routes.
"The important thing is to keep this at the top of the European agenda, because it is at the top of the concerns of the populations of every country which is represented here: organised crime, counter-terrorism, managed migration," UK home secretary John Reid said after the meeting, according to Reuters.
Although agreements do not lead to any formal decisions, compromises reached by the G6 – who represent three quarters of the EU population – help set the agenda of meetings at the EU level.
The ministers were also concerned about alienation of European Muslims and sought to engage Muslim minorities in the fight against extremism, seeking to counter anger at what they see as unfair treatment by the authorities.
The fears were highlighted by the overnight violence in the suburbs of Paris, where youths - many from immigrant families - set four buses on fire ahead of the one-year anniversary of major riots across France.
'Hostile environment for terrorists'
The G6 said close contact between the countries in the 25-nation bloc was needed in order to properly fight terrorism.
The six also agreed to increase cooperation on explosives and the technologies that could be used to trace them. In particular the emerging threat from liquid explosives, which British police believe were at the heart of an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic passenger jets last August.
They said improved co-operation in monitoring and analysing internet use by radicals for organising and recruiting terrorists was required, to make what Mr Reid called "a more hostile operating environment for terrorists."
Immigration
French minister Nicolas Sarkozy emphasized the importance of a common EU-wide policy on granting asylum and said Europe should negotiate as a bloc with African countries on limiting routes used by illegal migrants.
"There are voices around this table from the right and from the left who are united in seeing the subject of immigration not as a thing of politics but of human drama," he said according to Reuters. His Spanish counterpart Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said according to El Pais that "we have approved a very important initiative."
The final document of the meeting will be presented to EU interior and justice ministers meeting on 9-10 December.
The G6 was set up in 2003 by France and the UK to provide an informal forum for big European Union countries to discuss issues of law and order and immigration.