EU HI-REP SOLANA PROPOSES EU INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 002498

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NOFORN

DEPT FOR EUR/ERA AND INR/EU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2014
TAGS: PREL PTER PINR EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: EU HI-REP SOLANA PROPOSES EU INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS
INCLUDE INTERNAL THREATS

REF: USEU BRUSSELS 1338

Classified By: USEU/POL: Harry O'Hara, reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (C/NF) Summary: At the EU Ministers for Justice and Home
Affairs (JHA) June 8 meeting, Council Hi-Rep Javier Solana
said he would call on leaders at next week's European Council
to extend the scope of the EU Situation Center (SitCen) from
external threats to internal threats within the EU. Solana
Cabinet member and intelligence advisor William Shapcott
(please protect) told us that he expects the Council to
approve the recommendation and to start implementation
soonest. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) EU Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) on
June 8 prepared for next week's discussion by EU leaders as a
follow-up to their March Declaration on combating terrorism.
This involved consideration (in restricted session) of a
number of reports requested by the leaders last March as part
of the EU's response to the Madrid attacks. EU Council
Secretary-General/CFSP High Rep Solana presented his report

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on terrorism and intelligence cooperation. Speaking at a
joint press conference with EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator
de Vries following his presentation to ministers, Solana said
he was calling to build on existing cooperation within the EU
Joint SitCen located within the Council Secretariat.


3. (C/NF) Shapcott, who also heads the SitCen, told us of his
overall staff or 65, seven analysts cover terrorist threats.
He said that he and Solana expect the Council of Ministers to
support the expansion of coverage to internal threats next
week. When this happens, Shapcott plans to increase the
number of terrorist analysts to 18. He also hopes to bring
in more member-states reps into the SitCen. Currently,
analysts are seconded from UK, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. As an aside, he said that the
SitCen would be "similar to that of INR" (he noted his visit
to INR in 2002) in that it would do analysis, not collection,
based on intelligence and analysis coming from the
member-states.


4. (SBU) Solana proposed that the SitCen should henceforth be
able to analyze input on internal threats to the EU based on
the input and staff from the Interior Ministries of the
Member States. Solana described the proposed mechanism as
"very simple," saying, "It can be very efficient and
implemented very rapidly." The enlarged body would have
communication links with EUROPOL and would be able to draw
from the existing EU Counter-Terrorism Group that assembles
the chiefs of intelligence agencies of the EU countries.
Solana described his proposal as "a first but important
step"."


5. (C/NF) Shapcott compared this step with US intelligence
analysis now including material from the FBI. He said that
planning for this had started in February and had been
expected to take a year to bring to fruition. He noted that
as a result of the Madrid bombings, there was increased EU
political pressure to move quickly to "tear down the
invisible wall" between the EU and the rest of the world. He
said that the EU needs to respond to a "logic of terrorism"
that does not recognize borders.


6. (U) A summary of Solana's presentation to the ministers
subsequently released by the Council (full text forwarded to
EUR/ERA) notes that the heads of the security services of the
Member States have given their support to the Solana
proposal. The paper highlights three core ideas on which
Solana will seek the backing of EU leaders:

-- Moves by the heads of the EU's 25 security services to
meet as a group on a regular basis the format of the existing
Counter-Terrorist Group (CTG);

-- The work of the CTG would allow for closer analytical
exchanges between Security Services and would provide scope
for improved operational cooperation;

-- Moves by EUROPOL to reactivate its Counter-Terrorist
Task Force and efforts to improve the flow of criminal
intelligence to EUROPOL.


7. (U) Solana said his proposal would allow for:

-- EU decision makers to be better informed, inter alia,
about threats, terrorist methods, organization of terrorist
groups, and thus better prepared to devise effective EU
counter-terrorist policies;
-- Member States to receive better support from European
bodies: They would get material from the EU's SitCen, and
their police services in particular would get better support
from EUROPOL;

-- Member States to retain the lead in the operational
field, while working more closely together through CTG,
EUROPOL, as well as through existing bilateral arrangements,
to strengthen information exchange and cooperation.


8. (U) The Council also considered a draft report to the
European Council on the implementation of the Declaration,
which records progress made toward the adoption of
implementation of a number of EU measures listed in the
Declaration. EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gijs de Vries
told the press conference a related draft Plan of Action on
combating terrorism, to be presented to EU leaders next week,
would identify a number of measures to be taken by the EU
with specific targets for adoption of the proposal by the
Commission and final endorsement by the Council. de Vries
said the plan would offer a roadmap in the form of an
18-month rolling program for the upcoming EU Presidencies
that could be adopted every six months.


9. (U) de Vries also presented two other reports, one dealing
with peer evaluation and the other dealing with ways to
improve the speed of implementation of legislative measures
adopted by the Council. Another report from EUROJUST (EU
Prosecutors' Office) contains recommendations to improve the
capacity of EUROJUST to contribute to the fight against
terrorism. In addition, the Council adopted the EUROPOL work
program for 2005 that takes account of the objective of
reinforcing the role of EUROPOL in the fight against
terrorism.


10. (U) The Council adopted conclusions on the follow-up to
the Declaration. These also note the report on the terrorist
attacks in Madrid prepared by the Police Chiefs Task Force
and the review undertaken by the same group on how their
operational capacity should be reinforced to focus on
proactive intelligence. Full text has been transmitted to
EUR/ERA.

Comment
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11. (C/NF) Solana's proposals are an attempt to bridge the
gap between pillars 2 (foreign policy) and 3 (justice and
home affairs). By consolidating national information in the
SitCen, he hopes to build on the sort of multi-country
synergies that led to the round-up of Islamic militants in
several EU countries earlier this week. His proposal would
still protect the basic principles of national competency in
operational intelligence. Still the challenge for the SitCen
-- to convince national security agencies in member-states to
begin sharing more timely actionable intelligence -- remains.
Complicating Solana's efforts will be some member-state
questions and concerns about sharing materials with all other
EU members, Cyprus and Malta in particular.
FOSTER