By Judith Crosbie
EU ministers to meet US’s top security official
[europeanvoice.com] Interior ministers of the EU’s six biggest states will meet the US’s top security official next week (5 November) and will discuss how to boost public support for counter-terrorism polices. The meeting in London of the so-called G6 will also discuss organised crime and the exchange of data.
Past meetings of the G6 have attracted criticism because of the lack of information about the agenda and what was discussed.
Neither Jacques Barrot, the European commissioner for freedom, justice and security, nor Gilles de Kerchove, the EU’s counter-terrorism co-ordinator, is attending the meeting.
“Six governments cutting themselves off from mainstream EU work is inefficient as well as undemocratic,” said Sarah Ludford, a UK Liberal MEP.
Janet Napolitano, the head of the US department of homeland security, will attend a session on counter-terrorism that will include a presentation by Jonathan Evans, director-general of the UK security service, MI5.
Challenges
The interior ministers of the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy will discuss the challenges to their counter-terrorism policies, particularly maintaining public support. Legal challenges arising from the detentions at Guantánamo Bay and public disquiet at security measures, such as those at airports, could form part of the discussion. Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, Spain’s interior minister, will brief his counterparts on the priorities of the Spanish presidency of the EU, which begins in January.
