Statewatch News online, 18 March 2004
Full contents see:  http://www.statewatch.org/news

1. Homeland Security comes to the EU: European Commission publishes
Action Plan on terrorism (and crime):

- plans cover terrorism but also include measures which have nothing
to do with combating terrorism
- fingerprinting for EU passports and ID cards to be mandatory
- European Registry on convictions to be created on all crimes
- European Registry of all travel documents to be created
- EU passenger name records (PNR) to be collected and put on database
- UK demanding EU-wide mandatory data retention of communications

see:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/mar/13eu-homeland-sec.htm

Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:

"In the wake of the dreadful bombing in Madrid on 11 March it was to
be expected that the EU would take stock and bring in new measures to
combat terrorism. This they are proposing to do on a number of areas
like better coordination of intellligence and tackling the financing
of terrorist groups. However, it is also planned to use the situation
to introduce a number of other measures which have litlte or nothing
to do with terrorism, which concern crime in general, the surveillance
of movement of everyone and a host of inter-connected EU-wide
databases.

We have already witnessed major assaults on civil liberties, data
protection and privacy and democratic standards post 11 September
where the so-called balance between "security" and "liberties" has
consistently come down on the side of "security". Now the EU appears
to be going further down the same road. Legitimate measures to tackle
terrorism will get everyones' support. But you cannot defend democracy
by taking away peoples' rights and putting everyone under
surveillance."

2. EU: Call for a new intelligence centre to be set up - Spanish
intelligence knew that the government's "support of the military
intervention in Iraq by the United States and its Allies constitutes
without doubt a further risk factor for Spain":Report and
documentation
see:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/mar/10eu-intel-centre.htm

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