Europa gaat door met plannen voor opslag e-mails en telefoongesprekken (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU ministers hammered out a faster timetable for anti-terrorist measures including data storage of phone calls, emails and text messages at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday (13 July)

The bloc secured political agreement to push ahead with the move, designed to help law enforcement agencies, following a heated debate on costs and civil liberties.

Member states will vote on the plan in October, choosing between two methods to take the mesaures forward - a swift intergovernmental decision or a new European law, which would take longer to adopt but has a stronger legal basis and is open to public scrutiny.

Ministers adopted four sets of measures to fight terrorism in areas such as cross-border investigations, prevention of terrorist recruitment in Europe, protection of crucial infrastructure, and management of terrorist attack fallout.

Most of the provisions relate to existing EU legislation that needs to be implemented at national level.

The European Commision also suggested that member states should be "named and shamed" for failing to do their homework on the issue.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, British interior minister Charles Clarke said "All of us across the EU are absolutely determined to accelerate work to make terrorism more difficult", although admitting he knew of "no such measure that will stop terrorism completely".

The summit was held in response to the London bomb attacks carried out last week, in which at least 52 people were killed and around 700 injured.

People across the EU will observe a two-minute silence for the victims on Thursday at 13:00 CET.

France stands out

Despite the show of unity among European security chiefs, French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy's statements on the UK investigations sparked bitter reaction from his British counterpart.

Mr Sarkozy suggested the UK police are dealing with suspects that had already been arrested after the 9/11 attacks four years ago, but who were later freed.

Mr Clarke denied these allegations as "completely and utterly untrue" and having "no foundation".

Paris also announced plans to reintroduce EU border controls, activating a clause within the Schengen agreement that allows for the reinstatement of border checks.

The country has already used the provision in the past, mainly for major sporting events.

Radicalisation of young Europeans

Mr Clarke indicated that Europe can do two things to fight terrorism: launch a strong intelligence sharing campaign to see how the terrorist network functions and understand as well as isolate potential terrorist recruits.

British authorities' discovery that last week's attacks were carried out by UK citizens of Pakistani origin has highlighted the need for a cultural dimension to the anti-terror struggle.

France's Mr Sarkozy suggested that member states should cooperate in the exchange of information on radical religious leaders, videos that promote violence and cultural centres that give out similar messages.

The EU executive is currently preparing a paper on the radicalisation of European youth and steps to overcome the trend, such as communication efforts with religious communities and enhanced cooperation with third countries linked to terrorist training.