Terrorism is not a new phenomenon in Europe. In Britain, Ireland and Spain alone, thousands of lives have been lost to terrorism over the past thirty years. This experience has taught us that the only way to defeat terrorism is to confront it.
Due to the increasing openness of the European Union, in which people, ideas, technology and resources move freely, collective European action, in a spirit of solidarity, is indispensable to combat terrorism. Within the EU the co-operation in the fight against terrorism has intensified since 9/11, and in particular since the horrendous Madrid attacks in 2004.
The European Union is committed to jointly combating terrorism and to providing for the best possible protection for its citizens.Through good co-operation, several terrorist attacks in Europe have been prevented, and arrests and convictions obtained. In December 2005, the EU decided to focus its efforts in the fight against terrorism on four main objectives: prevent, protect, pursue and respond.
Terrorism is a threat to all States and to all peoples. It poses a serious threat to our security, to the values of our democratic societies and to the rights and freedoms of the citizens, especially through the indiscriminate targeting of innocent people. Terrorism is criminal and unjustifiable under any circumstances. Despite all combined efforts and increased cooperation between Member States and with the third states and International Organisation the threat remains high (for the situation in Europe see the
EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report TE-SAT by Europol and the
EU counter-terrorism strategy adopted in November 2005
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