The EU needs to deliver a comprehensive response to the challenge of terrorism, writes British home secretary John Reid
Last week, British police and security services thwarted what looks to have been an attempt to cause mass murder by terrorists. Thousands of European holidaymakers both in the United Kingdom and across the Continent shared the frustration of disrupted holiday plans.
Millions more expressed their shock and worry as details of the alleged plot emerged.
While loss of life was prevented, the events served as a stark reminder that the threat of terrorism affects us all in our everyday lives and that we are all part of the fight against terrorism.
That is why I am meeting the Finnish presidency of the EU and the interior ministers of the following four EU presidencies - Germany, Portugal, France and Slovenia - today to discuss how we can build on the progress we have made since the attacks in Madrid in 2004 and in London last year.
In the wake of the attempted terrorist attacks in London on July 21st last year, we swiftly brought a suspect back to the UK from Italy to face trial thanks to the European Arrest Warrant. And the European Evidence Warrant will improve and speed up the process of obtaining evidence from each other.
In Britain, we are grateful for the solidarity shown by our European colleagues. They know that the threat from international terrorism is undiminished and we all know that the next time it might not be the UK that the terrorists will target, but elsewhere. Together we need to deliver a comprehensive response to the challenge facing us all: how do we, as democratic and open societies, best fight terrorism without compromising our values? How do we balance the individual rights that we all enjoy with the collective right to safety and security that as a society we demand?
Last year, the EU adopted a Counter-Terrorism Strategy. This strategy focuses our efforts on four key actions - prevent, protect, prosecute and respond - that closely mirror the UK's own strategy.
Above all, we need to accelerate our work to prevent European citizens turning to terrorism by sharing our experiences of radicalisation and recruitment in social environments like schools and places of worship, or through the media and internet. Work is already under way to prevent violent behaviour from taking root in young people by developing an understanding of the cultural diversity of Europe and its fundamental common values and we must build on this. Ultimately, we need to create a European society that is inclusive of all.
Of course, we must also work together in the aftermath of any attack or attempted attack to prosecute those responsible and to ensure our legal systems are robust so that terrorists cannot find any safe haven across our Continent. And we should continue to improve our ability to respond together, by enhancing our crisis management and by facilitating practical co-operation between our law enforcement agencies. We need to protect ourselves by responding to new terrorist techniques with appropriate security measures. The European Commission has already emphasised the need for new standards of protective security which should be adopted at European airports. We must now also target research into explosives on liquid explosives.
We have to deliver all of this while staying true to our shared European values of respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.
Why? Because they are tools themselves which will enable us to fight terrorism. By defending our citizens from terrorism without destroying the freedoms upon which our societies are built; by seeking to defeat the terrorists without making Muslims feel we are trying to attack Islam; by addressing the legitimate grievances of the Muslim world without validating the terrorists' narrative, we will build an environment where tolerance and freedom reign, and where terrorism does not thrive.
I am only too aware of the scale of these challenges, but I am confident that the best way to defeat international terrorism is through international co-operation and the vigilance of our citizens - something we can all work together to achieve.
We are threatened as individuals, as communities, as societies, as nations and as a Union; we must rise to the challenge at all levels, together.