EU ministers agree tougher anti-terror measures

14 July 2005

BRUSSELS  — Forcing European companies to store phone and internet records is among anti-terror measures agreed by Spain and other EU countries.

Interior ministers agreed a series of measures including sharing more  information on lost and stolen explosives, the BBC reported.

Tackling terrorist finances, including new laws on wire transfers of money and measures against money laundering will also be a new priority.

They also agreed to ensuring common standards for those countries with identity card schemes and make a renewed effort to stop the recruitment of potential terrorists.

In a statement from the summit, the ministers said the bombings were “an affront to universal values on which the European Union is based”.

They added: “The terrorists, who reject that commitment and seek to use violence to impose their ideas, will be defeated.”

EU interior ministers gathered for a similar summit after March 2004’s Madrid bombings which killed 191 people.

That meeting led to the faster implementation of the European Arrest Warrant and boosted the sharing of police information to thwart future attacks.

EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini suggested it was time to “blame and shame” nations which had failed to implement the previously agreed measures.

[Copyright Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news