EU and US join forces to fight terrorism

Declaration on terrorism: Sharing of "sensitive" intelligence information as part of the global effort to combat terrorism was…

Declaration on terrorism: Sharing of "sensitive" intelligence information as part of the global effort to combat terrorism was agreed by the EU and the US at the summit last Saturday, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent.

The two sides pledged in a joint statement to "share information among intelligence and law enforcement agencies to prevent and disrupt terrorist activities".

The declaration also committed the two sides to "promote the use of appropriate investigative techniques, such as electronic surveillance, in combating terrorism". The statement added: "We will regularly review developments regarding proposals directed at improving the exchange of personal information."

On air transport, the document states: "We will fully implement the EC-US agreement on transfer of passenger name record (PNR) data." The two sides would "work in close co-operation to diminish the underlying conditions that terrorists can seize to recruit and exploit to their advantage. By promoting democracy, development, good governance, justice, increased trade and freedom, we can help end dictatorship and extremism that bring millions of people to misery and bring danger to our own people". On the related issue of weapons of mass destruction, a separate joint declaration said North Korea's withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was "unprecedented and of serious concern to us all".