EU in no hurry to appoint new anti-terror chief
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Mr de Vries stepped down and has not been replaced for the post of EU anti-terror coordinator (Photo: European Commission)
Despite the recent car bomb plots in the UK and their alleged links to Al Qaida, the EU has not rushed to boost joint anti-terror activities or re-appoint its coordinator in the area following the departure in March of the bloc's first man to the job.
British officials are continuing in their investigations relating to car bombings at Glasgow Airport and the attempted bombings in central London late last month with at least one of the suspects thought to have been in recent contact with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to the Sunday Times.
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At EU level, apart from a series of new anti-terrorist measures announced by the European Commission, the bloc's member states do not currently have a special representative in charge of coordination of their activities in this field.
Dutch diplomat Gijs de Vries stepped down from the position in March due to "personal reasons" and has not yet been replaced.
"There was some internal debate about the possibility of replacing [him]", according to a high ranking official quoted by AFP. But "the post wasn't too high-profile, not too exciting, so his departure didn't really upset anyone much," he added.
Other officials suggested that the German presidency could have appointed someone else for the job if there was a real interest in doing so, while admitting the post was entrusted with too few powers and created mainly media purposes.
The weakness of the position - created just days after the terrorist train bombings in Madrid which killed 191 people - came under the spotlight during the European Parliament's investigations into CIA activities in Europe.
MEPs criticised both Mr de Vries himself for his vague statements before the special committee and the lack of substance of his post.
The lack of substance to his job reflected member states' deeply ingrained dislike of sharing information on anti-terrorism activities.
Mr de Vries himself expressed frustration about the slow process of dealing with security-related issues at EU level.
"I firmly believe that we cannot fight terrorism effectively as a European Union if we have to wait for unanimity, even about the nomination of civil servants," he had said following a year-long process to appoint a new head of Europol, according to AFP.
