Airstrip One

EIA

Suggestions one year become practical reality the next. The Austrians put forward a position paper arguing for the establishment of a European intelligence agency to combat terrorism, offering additional "options to the military, to diplomats and internal security systems.”

The proposal was knocked back, but this is one to watch. The 'war on terror' provides a justification for the European Union to beef up its security apparatus, define its enemies and take whatever action is deemed appropriate.

(19.58, 24th February 2004)