STATEMENT OF EU/US SHARED OBJECTIVES AND CLOSE
COOPERATION ON COUNTER-TERRORISM
1. The United States, the European Union and its member states are strategic
allies in the global fight against terrorism - a grave threat to democracy,
and to economic and social development. They oppose terrorism in all its
forms, whatever the motivation of its perpetrators, oppose concessions
to terrorists, and agree on the need to resist extortion threats. They
condemn absolutely not only those who plan or commit terrorist acts, but
also any who support, finance or harbour terrorists. They recognise that
terrorism operates on a transnational scale, and cannot effectively be
dealt with solely by isolated action using each individual state's own
resources. They work together to promote greater international co-operation
and co-ordinated effort to combat terrorism by all legal means and in
all relevant bilateral and multilateral fora - from the Transatlantic
Dialogue to the United Nations.
The International Legal Framework
2. Extradition and mutual legal assistance arrangements are in operation
or will be developed between EU partners and the United States. The EU
and US co-operate in the United Nations framework to elaborate the necessary
international legal instruments for the fight against terrorism. They
work in tandem to promote universal adherence to the eleven international
counter-terrorism conventions. EU partners contributed to the rapid and
successful negotiation of the most recent UN Convention (for the Suppression
of Terrorist Bombings) based on a draft proposed by the US. Now they are
co-operating to consider the terms of a draft UN Convention on the Suppression
of Nuclear Terrorism.
Areas of current EU/US mutual interest
3. (i) Terrorist Fund-raising: EU partners are pooling their knowledge
and experience to work to cut off terrorists' sources of funding. They
have agreed a set of action points, and their operational agencies are
working on joint initiatives against terrorist funding. The US participated
in an EU seminar in 1997 which shaped this work, is briefed regularly
on current developments in this key area, and will take part in a follow-up
EU seminar in Vienna in October 1998.
(ii) Chemical/Biological Terrorism and other threats: During the UK Presidency
the EU and US have shared their thinking and compared best practice in
the areas of CB terrorism, Terrorist arms trafficking and Bomb scene management.
(iii) The Middle East Peace Process: The EU briefs the US regularly on
its current 3-year programme of counter-terrorism co-operation to enhance
the effectiveness of the Palestinian Authority in this key area, including
an extensive programme of human rights training. To strengthen EU/Palestinian
links still further in the fight against terrorism, a declaration creating
a joint Security Committee was agreed in April 1998. The Committee now
meets regularly to discuss security issues.
EU/US Consultation and Information Exchange
4. Policy co-operation is developed bilaterally and at EU/US level. Operational
co-operation, including intelligence-sharing, is handled bilaterally by
national law enforcement agencies, and is given high priority. To identify
and assess the scale of the terrorist threat, the EU member states and
the US exchange information and assessments on terrorist trends and latest
developments. The regular meetings on counter-terrorism between the US
and the EU Troika of the Second and Third Pillars are used to exchange
views on all aspects of terrorism policy, including trends in countries
of particular current concern in the Middle East and elsewhere. Information
is also shared on significant developments on either side of the Atlantic,
e.g. the creation of Europol, which will include terrorism within its
remit soon after its launch. The US has updated EU partners on the impact
of its decision last October to designate 30 foreign terrorist organisations.
Further Co-operation
5. While recognising the wide range of work successfully accomplished
hitherto, both sides see scope to strengthen further their close ties
in the field of counter-terrorism, and are working to do so - by additional
information-sharing at their regular Troika meetings, enhanced bilateral
intelligence exchanges, and sustained co-operation at the United Nations
and in other fora to advance their common objectives.
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