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January 26, 2005

A new report by the Congressional Research Service--the nonpartisan expert legislative agency--gives the very welcome news that, despite well-publicized diplomatic and popular splits between the United States and Europe, the U.S. and the European Union are making great progress on improving their counterterror cooperation. The report has been posted on the Web by the Federation of American Scientists.

CRS writes that "U.S.-EU cooperation against terrorism has led to a new dynamic in U.S.-EU relations by fostering dialogue on law enforcement and homeland security issues previously reserved for bilateral discussions." It's important to remember something little-discussed in the American media and even less frequently mentioned on many blogs: EU members have also been targets of terror. Aside from the March 2004 bombings in Madrid, there have also been reported threats against London's Heathrow Airport, and France and other nations have also reported similar threats. (France has taken these threats particularly seriously: In an effort to maintain both its secular republican political culture and the security of the state, the French government has pursued a domestic antiterror policy possibly even more hardline than Washington's.)

The new transatlantic cooperation has required the EU to broaden its Union-level criminal authority, the CRS report notes: "Among other steps, the EU has established a common definition of terrorism and a list of terrorist groups, an EU arrest warrant, enhanced tools to investigate terrorist financing, and new measures to strengthen external EU border controls."

Brussels and Washington have instituted high-level contacts, including ministerial-level discussions, meetings between senior officials twice a year, and permanent liaison officers in Washington and (soon) The Hague. The U.S. and EU are also sharing more information between their criminal justice agencies. The cooperation even extends to greater agreement on customs security, including stationing U.S. customs officers in European ports to pre-screen cargo containers for WMD and other substances (On the importance of screening, see also this CRS report on nuclear attacks on U.S. seaports). Treaties between the EU and the U.S. requiring ratification in the Senate will extend this cooperation. For example, the treaties will streamline extradition (in exchange for a guarantee from the U.S. that Washington will not seek the death penalty for any suspects extradited from the EU).

Ongoing challenges remain, CRS writes, including the difficulty of striking a balance between security and legitimate travel and commerce. Ten of the Union's 25 members are not part of the American Visa Waiver Program, which lets nationals of certain countries visit the U.S. visa-free; the remaining fifteen are required to upgrade their passports to include biometric data by October of this year (although many will not). There have been calls in the EU to begin retaliatory visa requirements, similar to those now in place in Brazil. Further, the EU views privacy of its citizens' data as a basic right, and is concerned that the U.S. will not safeguard the data as EU regulations require; these issues require further discussion.

What is interesting, and not touched on by the CRS article, is the increasing reliance by Washington on Union-level contacts. The EU, remember, is only a Union of member states--in theory. But its growing resources and authority means that security-minded policymakers (who may be paranoid, but who are pragmatic) are taking the Union seriously on issues of supreme national importance. Sovereignty is slipping away in Europe. But, at least, it appears that our borders are safer because of it.

Posted by Paul Musgrave at January 26, 2005 05:30 PM

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Posted by: wahoofive at January 27, 2005 05:00 PM | permalink