EU policy context Clause Samples

EU policy context. The terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 and more recent attacks in Europe, such as the London and Madrid bombings of mass transport networks underlined the need for greater coordination at EU level to ensure the security of EU citizens in the context of increasingly globalised security threats. The European Security Strategy ‘A secure Europe in a better world’ was adopted by the Council in December 2003 identified a number of challenges to Europe’s internal and external security. These centre on the connected threats of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, failing states, and organised crime. The strategy also advocates ‘Better co- ordination between external action and Justice and Home Affairs policies is crucial in the fight both against terrorism and organised crime.’ The EU Security Strategy called for a more strategic approach to promoting EU security, with greater coherence, stronger capabilities and greater coordination and cooperation between relevant actors. A Group of Personalities (GoP) was set up in 2003 to identify key principles and guidelines for the establishment of a European Security Research Programme to support the aims of the EU’s foreign, security and defence policy. In order to strengthen the coherence of EU Security, the 2004 GoP report called for: a) More effective coordination between national and European research activities (b) Systematic analysis of security- related capability needs, from civil security to defence (c) The full exploitation of synergies between defence, security and civil research (d) Specific legal conditions and funding instruments for security- related research at the European level, and (e) Institutional arrangements that are efficient and flexible enough to combine Member State and EU efforts and to involve other interested partners. 1