EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 20.10.2004 
COM(2004) 701 final 
  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION  
TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
Preparedness and consequence manageme nt in the fight against terrorism 
 
EN 2   EN TABLE OF CONTENTS 
1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 3 
2. THE CIVIL PROTECTION FRAMEWORK ............................................................. 3 2.1. The Community Civil Protection Mechanism ............................................................. 3 2.2. Enhancing preparedness through trai ning and simulation exercises............................ 4 
2.3. Identifying and assessing capabilities .......................................................................... 5 3. HEALTH PROTECTION............................................................................................ 6 3.1. The challenge ............................................................................................................. .. 6 
3.2. Cooperation in the field of health security................................................................... 6 3.3. Threat awareness, command and control arrangements: Mechanism for information 
exchange, consultation and co-ordination.................................................................... 6 
3.4. Surveillance and detection: Capability fo r inventorying, detecti on and identification 7 
3.5. Response and recovery: Medicines’ stoc ks and health services database  
and arrangements for provision of medicine s, specialists, other medical goods  
and infrastructure ......................................................................................................... 7 
3.6. Prevention and Protection: Interdiction of agent movement and biosafety ................. 8 
3.7. Enhancing preparedness and response......................................................................... 9 3.8. International cooperation ............................................................................................. 9 4. THE COMMUNITY SPHERE RAPI D ALERT SYSTEM NETWORKS ............... 10 
4.1. Existing Commission emergency rapid alert systems................................................ 10 4.2. Consolidating the emergency systems managed by the Commission........................ 10 4.3. A European Union law enforcement network............................................................ 11 4.4. A European Union Critical infrastructure Warning Information Network................ 11 TECHNICAL ANNEXES........................................................................................................ 12 
 
EN 3   EN 1. INTRODUCTION 
The European Council of June 2004 asked the Commission and the Council to assess Member 
States capacities to prevent and cope with te rrorist attacks and to enhance the existing 
cooperation on civil protec tion. The present Comm unication gives an over view of the actions 
that the Commission is currently  taking and proposes additional measures to strengthen the 
existing instruments and to meet the mandates given by the European Council.  
2. THE  CIVIL  PROTECTION  FRAMEWORK 
2.1. The Community Civil Protection Mechanism 
Mutual assistance and collective action are bo th a political imperative and a practical 
necessity in the event of a terro rist attack. Terrorist attacks may require the involvement of 
many different response teams, ranging from trad itional civil protection capabilities to more 
sophisticated technical and scientific resour ces. The capabilities required to handle the 
consequences of terrorist attacks can easily exce ed the capacities of the country affected. Only 
collective action, based on solidarity, can ensu re a timely and adequate response to all 
terrorist scenarios.  
For its part, the Commission is ready to assist Member States in the implementation of their 
solidarity commitment through the Community Ci vil Protection Mechanism. Established in 
October 2001, the Community Mechanism has quick ly developed into th e key instrument for 
European cooperation in the field of civil pr otection. Participation in the Mechanism has 
grown to a total of 30 countries (EU-25, Bu lgaria, Romania, Iceland, Liechtenstein and 
Norway), with others showing interest in  joining the Mechanism. The Commission has 
worked closely with Member Stat es to develop a series of ac tions and instruments aimed at 
enhancing preparedness and facilitating mutual assistance in the event of a major disaster. 
Most importantly, the Mechanism – which can be  called upon by any country that is struck by 
a major disaster – has now provided real-time s upport in various emergenc ies, allowing it to 
gain experience and to build upon lessons learned.  
When stricken by a disaster, the national auth orities of the affected  country can submit a 
request for assistance to the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), which immediately 
forwards the request to its netw ork of national contact points. It  is then up to the individual 
countries to determine whether they are in a pos ition to offer assistance. The MIC collects the 
responses and the requesting c ountry can choose the capabilitie s it needs to supplement its 
own assets. In addition, the MIC can also offe r technical support and di spatch small expert 
teams to coordinate assistance or to liaise w ith the national authorities or international 
organisations.  
The MIC also collects validated information throughout the emergency and provides regular 
updates to all participating c ountries. A dedicated communication and information system 
(CECIS) is being implemented in 2004 to ensu re even more efficient information flows 
during emergencies. 
To date, the MIC has coordinated European civi l protection assistance in  a variety of natural 
and man-made disasters. In the past two ye ars, more than 10 different countries have 
benefited from European civil protection assistance arranged  through the Mechanism. The 
 
EN 4   EN types of assistance provided through the MI C cover the whole range of traditional civil 
protection activities - in cluding fire-fighting, medical assistan ce, search and rescue – as well 
as more specialised equipment or expertise. Similar assistance can be provided, upon request, 
in case of a terrorist attack . The added value of EU wide  cooperation can be realised 
whenever the scale of a disaster is such that  it exceeds the national capacities, regardless of 
whether it is a natural disaster, a technol ogical accident or a terrorist threat.  
On the same day that the European Council adopted the Solidarity Declaration, 25 March 
2004, the Commission expressed its intention a nd commitment to further strengthen the 
Community Civil Protection Mechanism. Th e Communication on Reinforcing the Civil 
Protection Capacity of the EU identifie d the following areas of improvement: 
• stronger coordination and communication; 
• the inter-operability of technical equipment, including civilian-military inter-operability; 
• common insignia for the intervention teams to  enhance the visibility of European 
solidarity; 
• finding the means to finance transportation of  equipment and teams in the event of a 
disaster. 
The Commission is committed to further impr oving the system of mutual assistance along 
these lines. To be effective, however, each of  these proposals requires the full support of the 
Member States.  
2.2. Enhancing preparedness through training and simulation exercises 
Training is a cornerstone of emergency prepar edness and response. At European level, the 
Community Civil Protection Mechanism has inve sted significant efforts in the design and 
implementation of a training programme for national experts and team leaders. This 
programme currently consists of three components: courses,  simulation exercises and an 
exchange of experts system.  
The targeted audience of the training courses are national team leaders, liaison officers and 
technical, assessment and coordination experts w ho are eligible to participate in European 
assistance interventions  outside their own country. The trai ning curriculum has been carefully 
developed to cover all knowledge and skills required to contribute effectively to such 
interventions. The courses, which last one week, also encourage in teraction between the 
participants to promote ex changes of information and knowledge of other countries’ 
approaches to civil protection.  
The first cycle of training cour ses has been successfully comp leted. More than 200 national 
experts and team leaders have received traini ng. The Commission will continue and, where 
possible, intensify its efforts in  this field. A second training cycle started in September 2004.  
In addition, the Commission intends  to organise specific traini ng courses on selected topics. 
These are likely to include training on topics relevant to terrorist attacks, such as 
psychological or psycho-social aftercare fo r victims and responders, operating in a 
contaminated environment, etc. Simulation exer cises are important to establish and maintain 
an effective and efficient response system capab le of handling threats to public safety. They 
enable first responders to apply their skills  in a realistic scenario and produce learning 
 
EN 5   EN situations at a level of comple xity that cannot be achieved in training courses. For those in 
charge of the system, they present a unique o pportunity to test and evaluate procedures, 
identify problems and build on past experience.  
At European level, the Comm ission has financed since 2002 the organisation of 8 major 
simulation exercises, involving teams and e xperts from several Me mber States. These 
exercises are carried out within the fr amework of the Community Mechanism.  
Three exercises were specifically modelled to re flect terrorist scenarios: the Euratox exercise 
(France) in October 2002, the Common Cause ex ercise (Denmark) in October 2002 and the 
EU Response exercise (Belgium) in January 2003. 
Under the exchange of experts system, national experts can work for a limited period of time 
in other Member States. The system is desi gned to share knowledge and expertise and to 
ensure that all Member States can bui ld upon this collectiv e knowledge base. 
2.3. Identifying and assessing capabilities  
Terrorists will continue to expose and exploi t our vulnerabilities. When prevention and 
deterrence fail and attacks occur, only a well -organised and effectiv e response system can 
guarantee an expeditious return to normality. This requires an increased emphasis on preparedness for terrorist events  at all levels. In response to this, the European Commission 
has developed a number of activities and inst ruments aimed at identifying and assessing the 
civil protection capabilities available for assistance at European level. 
One way of enhancing preparedness is inform ation gathering. Reliable and detailed data on 
the assets and capabilities available for assist ance at European level will facilitate planning 
and can, in the long run, ensure a more ra tional use of limited resources. The Council 
Decision establishing the Community Mechan ism recognised this need and requested 
Member States to make information on civil protection teams and expe rts available to the 
Community Mechanism. The information received from Member States ha s been entered into 
the civil protection database maintained by the Commission. The above mentioned 
Commission Communication on Re inforcing the Civil Protect ion Capacity of the EU 
identified a number of information gaps and called upon the Member States to provide more 
detailed data in order to allow better planning and preparedness.  
In 2003, the EU Military Committee was mandated to  establish a database  of military assets 
and capabilities relevant to the protection of ci vilian populations against th e effects of terrorist 
attacks, including chemical, biological, radiol ogical and nuclear (CBRN ) attacks. In 2004, the 
content of the military database was made available to the Community Mechanism in order to enhance its overall  response capacity. 
In response to the mandates given by the J une European Council, the Commission has 
initiated a new process designed to  assess the civil protection capab ilities that are available at 
European level to assist countries affected by a major terrorist attack. This exercise is not 
intended to provide a realistic pi cture of all national civil prot ection resources available within 
the participating countries, but focuses specifica lly on the assets and capabilities that could be 
made available to assist other countries in the event of a major terrorist attack.  
The Commission has taken a scenario-based appr oach to identify both th e needs for assistance 
at EU level and the resources available for such  assistance interventions. With the help of 
national experts, the Commission designed a limite d number of scenarios for the response to 
 
EN 6   EN terrorist attacks. Based on the scenarios, the Commission has developed a consolidated list of 
the civil protection assets and capabilities re quired to handle the co nsequences of major 
terrorist attacks in Europe. It devised a comprehensive questionnaire focusing both on 
quantitative and qualitative information, a nd on 17 August 2004, requested the 30 countries 
participating in the Community Mechanism to  provide information on the civil protection 
assistance they could offer in each of these sc enarios. In the meantime , the EU Military Staff 
has started upgrading the military database on the basis of the consolidated list and 
questionnaire developed by the Commission.  
Once the information is received, the Commissi on will consolidate the information and start 
to draft an EU Restricted re port assessing the capabilities avai lable at European level for 
assistance to countries affected by a major terrorist attack. This report will be presented to the 
December European Council. The report could be  a unique policy tool for the European 
Union and the Member States, allowing them to further strengthen the civil protection 
framework in Europe and to consolidate the solidarity commitments they have undertaken.  
So far, only some of the Member States ha ve responded with approp riate information. All 
Member States need to participate fully if th e Union is to have an accurate picture of its 
response capability and to take forward its abil ity to deliver on its solidarity commitment.  
3. HEALTH  PROTECTION 
3.1. The challenge 
Incidents and terrorist attacks involving explosives, chemical, bi ological and chemical agents 
can be hugely disruptive and costly even if they do not kill or maim or involve “unlimited catastrophe” agents, such as smallpox, which will continue to spread unless effective counter-
measures are applied. The action in the health field is intended  to cover the whole spectrum of 
activities from risk assessment via the detecti on or exclusion of presence of biological, 
chemical or radioactive agents  in packages, environmental compartments or humans, animals 
or plants, through to risk comm unication between health authori ties, health professionals and 
the public, to risk management involving the in troduction or applicati on of counter-measures 
including travel advisories, screenings and contact tracing, vaccination, administration of 
therapeutics and treatments, decontamination, mass casualty tr iage, isolation, quarantine, 
interdiction of premises and m ovement, and waste disposal.  
3.2. Cooperation in the field of health security 
The Member States and the Commis sion are working together to ensure that there is adequate 
capacity and capabilities and to enhance preparedness and response in the health sector for 
any incident, no matter its origin. They have  agreed in November 2001 a programme on 
health security, which has been the object of Commissi on communication COM(2003) 320 of 
2 June 2003. 
3.3. Threat awareness, command and control arrangements: Mechanism for 
information exchange, consultation and co-ordination 
The platform of health security coordination in  the EU is the Health Security Committee, set 
up in November 2001 by the Health Minister s and the Commissioner for Health and 
Consumer Protection. It exchanges information on health-related threats,  coordinates health 
preparedness and emergency response plans and cr isis management strategies, raises the alert 
 
EN 7   EN and communicates rapidly in case of health-rel ated incidents of EU concern, advises on the 
management of risk and facilitates and s upports training and dissemination of good practice 
and experience. 
A secure 24 hour/7 day-a-week rapid alert sy stem (RAS-BICHAT) li nks the Commission and 
the members of the Health Security Committee with back-up contact points in appropriate 
government offices. It complements the early warning and response system (EWRS) system 
established by Commission Decision 2000/57/ EC of 22 December 1999 for the formal 
notification of outbreaks and consultation and coordination of counter-measures under the 
terms of Decision No 2119/98/EC of the Europ ean Parliament and of the Council. Both 
systems are linked under appropriate operating proce dures with all the EU health-related alert 
systems and with systems that scan and summ arise information made available through news 
agencies, other news media and specialised so urces onto the World Wi de Web in order to 
provide advance warning on adverse events.  
Alert systems and coordination of measures ensu red by this platform of cooperation on health 
protection apply over the full range  of incidents from simple incidents and threats such as 
notification of unsafe fo od consignments and mailing of suspect  letters, to mass casualties and 
interdiction of movement which might require  deployment of significant law enforcement, 
security, and even military assets. 
3.4. Surveillance and detection: Capability for inventorying, detection and 
identification  
Biological agents have been prio ritised on the basis of certain criteria, such as infectiousness, 
virulence, persistence in the environment,  ease of manipulation and dissemination and 
existence of defences to counter their propagation and effects.  
There are seven laboratory faciliti es in five Member States of the EU that are suitable for the 
handling and confirmation in sa mples and specimens of high-ri sk agents such as viral 
haemorrhagic fever or smallpox viruses (P4 laboratories). A network has been formed 
between these laboratories to provide quality-assure d diagnostic services to all Member States 
and on-call availability 24h/7d to communicate rapidly with national authorities and the 
Commission, and organise te sts and exercises, training and skill development.  
To boost biosecurity defences, the Commi ssion has put since June 2003 under mandatory 
surveillance Bacillus anthracis  (for anthrax), Franciscella tularensis  (for tularemia), Coxiella 
burnetii  (for Q-fever), and Variola major  (for smallpox) by their addition to the EU list of 
special agents and by laying down case definitio ns for these agents in Commission Decision 
2003/534/EC of 17 July 2003. Moreover, in order to identify in a single tool and prioritise 
health security actions, a matrix has been developed together w ith a decision-making 
algorithm for use by the EU comp etent national authorities.  
3.5. Response and recovery: Medicines’ stocks  and health services database and 
arrangements for provision of medicine s, specialists, oth er medical goods and 
infrastructure  
There are no authorised vaccines in the EU ag ainst pathogens such as smallpox or plague. 
Authorised anthrax vaccines are not widely available. Advantage has been taken of the 
opportunity presented by the current review of the EU pharmaceutical legislation to introduce 
 
EN 8   EN legal amendments in order to allow distribution and prescripti on of non- market authorised 
medicines under appropriat e liability conditions.  
The analysis of the antibiotics capacity of indu stry showed that there is very likely to be 
sufficient supply to meet demand in all foreseeab le situations. Information has been obtained 
and shared, on a restricted basis, on stocks of  bioagent vaccines, antibiotics, antidotes and 
anti-virals in Member States and consensus ha s been obtained on the general information that 
needs to be collected on medical resources fo r mutual assistance in disastrous medical 
situations. Most Member States have exis ting or are acquiring stockpiles of smallpox 
vaccines. There is an insufficient supply of immunoglobulins used for the treatment of serious 
adverse reactions to vaccines . A study by the Commission on the dilution of existing smallpox 
vaccines showed that it woul d be problematic under emergency conditions. Action is now 
directed towards the development of safer vaccines and the formulation of vaccination 
strategies, including for pandemic influenza. On  request of the Commission, guidelines have 
been issued by the European Medicines Evalua tion Agency, on the use of medicines against 
potential pathogens and the development of vacc inia virus- based vaccines against smallpox. 
Clinical guidelines for the recognition and cas e management of diseases related to the 
pathogens that may be used in deliberate releases have been de veloped and issued on the basis 
of a consensus and peer review process on anthrax, smallpox, botul ism, plague, tularaemia, 
haemorrhagic fever viruses, brucella, Q fever, encephalitis viruses, glanders and melioidosis . 
On chemical agent terrorism, a series of lists of  chemical agents has been compiled to arrive 
at groups of substances requiring the same public  health and medical approaches. The clinical 
and toxicological aspects have been reviewed  and data from a survey of poison centres 
conducted by the Commission have been used to  compile an inventory of clinical and 
laboratory-related expertise in the EU. A network of chemical agent response cen tres will be 
set up to report incidents of  EU concern and advice on count er-measures. Finally, guidance on 
the use of antidotes and pharmaceuticals for chemical agents has been obtained from the 
European Medicines Evaluation Agency and published.  
Knowledge about terror agents and corr esponding diseases and their clinical and 
epidemiological management and associated labora tory analysis is limited, hence the drive to 
identify relevant experts in the EU and their li sting in a directory shared by the authorities of 
the Member States. Experts are designated by the Health Security Committee in accordance 
with criteria on qualifications, experi ence and deployment readiness.  
3.6. Prevention and Protection: Interdicti on of agent movement and biosafety 
The EU has a stringent regulat ory regime for recording CBRN agents and materials. The 
directives on biological and chemical agents for the purpose of health and safety at work have 
introduced, since 1990, obligations in respect of the possession, st orage, handling and use of 
these agents in all workplaces, including laboratories, research and academic institutions, hospitals etc. They also require appropriate qualif ications and registering of those involved in 
all of the above operations. Stri ct conditions exist for the re gistering and manipulation of 
radioactive substances in a series of directiv es regarding the radiol ogical protection of the 
public and of workers against ionising radiation. Strict conditions and sa feguards apply also in 
the food safety and veterinary and plant health sectors. A compulsory regime exists for the 
control of exports of dual-use items and te chnology which contains lis ts of radiological, 
nuclear, biological and chemical agents for whic h strict provisions li nked to international non-
proliferation regimes and export control arrangements apply.  
 
EN 9   EN 3.7. Enhancing preparedness and response 
Preparedness and response planning is a key priority in the EU. Making counter-measures by 
the Member States compatible and inter-operable is the key objective. To this end, a 
compilation of national health emergency pl ans has been made. EU- wide evaluation 
exercises on smallpox and pandemic influenza will be carried out in 2005 to evaluate communications and compatibility of natio nal plans. The Commission has published a 
working paper setting out its blueprint for Community Preparedness and Response Planning 
on pandemic influenza in March 2004. It is now working on preparing a general health 
emergency plan for the EU.  
Member States and the Commission are develo ping prediction models about the progress of 
disease and dispersal of agents under differe nt scenarios and variable quantitative and 
qualitative information on movements of people, social habits, various geographical, weather 
and transport and utility conditions and to gauge  the impact of particular health protection 
counter-measures, such as quarantine and ma ss vaccinations. These activities are supported 
with co-funding by the Community provided un der the public health programme 2003-2008. 
A training programme has been developed along tw o strands: First, training in the field of 
communicable disease outbreak investiga tion (EPIET), which is co-funded by the 
Commission and the Member Stat es and provides a facility for flexible deployment of 
expertise inside and outside th e EU. Second, a training course a nd production of materials on 
forensic epidemiology that have been prepared  together with Europol  for jointly training 
Member States’ trainers from law enforcem ent and field epidemiologist services.  
The future European Union Centre for Diseas e Prevention and Contro l (agreed on 21 April 
2004 by the European Parliament and Council fo llowing a proposal by the Commission) will 
be a key player in providing advice to the Member  States and the EU institutions, as well as in 
implementing surveillance and response acti ons in the area of health security.  
3.8. International cooperation 
The Global Health Security Action Initiative  was agreed by the G7 and Mexican Health 
Ministers and Commissioner Byrn e in Ottawa on 7 November 2001 and has similar goals to 
those of the EU cooperation An incident sc ale for risk communication and algorithms for 
response in various scenarios have been deve loped between the parties to the initiative, 
smallpox measures and patient isol ation training has been held, in ter-laboratory tests are being 
carried out within a laborator y collaboration platform a nd risk communication and co-
ordination via a dedicated netw ork have been established. C ooperation on field investigation 
techniques, chemical agent ev ents and influenza planning is on-going, and a smallpox plan 
evaluation exercise (Global Mercury) was conducted in September 2003. The Commission 
leads on the cooperation platform on biosafety and biosecurity resear ch. Ministers and the 
Commissioner meet regularl y to review progress.  
The Commission is cooperating with the WHO in  activities concerning bi oterrorism, first in 
the context of the Ottawa init iative and, second, in the cont ext of on-going initiatives by the 
WHO to improve its Global Outbreak  and Response Network activities.  
 
EN 10   EN 4. THE  COMMUNITY  SPHERE  RAPID  ALERT  SYSTEM  NETWORKS 
4.1. Existing Commission emergency rapid alert systems 
The Commission has developed th e operational capacity to assist  in the response to a wide 
range of emergencies. This has resulted in the creation of several rapid response systems 
(RAS), such as the MIC (Monito ring and Information Centre, to  facilitate and support mutual 
assistance between the participating countries ), the ECURIE system  (in the event of a 
radiological emergency), BICHAT  (for biological and chemical attacks and threats), RAPEX 
(consumer health and safety - non-food aspects) , RASFF (consumer health in relation to food 
and feed), EWRS (communicable diseases ), EUROPHYT (phytosanitary network: 
interception of organisms harmful to plants), SHIFT (health contro ls on imports of veterinary 
concern) and ADNS (animal health).  
The individual networks usuall y consist of an information exchange network on a “round the 
clock communication basis” receiving and trigge ring an alert and forwarding information to 
and from Member States and associated co untries or IAEA Emergency Response Centre. 
While the precise scope, procedures and purposes of each of these systems differ, they all share the aim to respond quickly and efficiently to emergencies. Existin g networks and alert 
systems have an excellent track record and they  have proven their worth in handling alerts and 
information flows timely and efficiently. Above  all they have crea ted trust and mutual 
confidence and reliance among th e specialised authorities. 
4.2. Consolidating the emergency systems managed by the Commission 
Information about an imminent or evolving threat or attack/disaster may reach the 
Commission through any of its RAS. Since aler ts are often submitted through multiple entry 
points, the Commission needs to en sure that relevant information is shared forthwith with all 
its services and national author ities concerned. Certain emergenc y situations may be of such 
gravity and the risk of their dege nerating into a serious crisis so  great that overall coordination 
across virtually all EU policies is necessa ry. Cooperation and coordination between all 
relevant rapid alert systems (including a law enforcement network and a critical 
infrastructures network) is essential in the ev ent of a major terrorist attack or disaster.  
To strengthen the Commission’s contribution to the fight against terrorism, the Commission 
will create a secure general rapid alert system  (ARGUS) to link all specialised systems for 
emergencies that require action at European leve l. A new central entry point will be created 
and built upon the existing structures availabl e within the Commission. The new system will 
respect the specific characteristics, competence a nd expertise of the indi vidual and specialised 
systems which will continue to carry out their curr ent functions. Since it is often unclear in the 
initial phase of an incident (e.g. an explosion) whether it is an accident  or terrorist incident, 
the scope of this system will not  be limited strictly to  terrorist attacks, but should include all 
crisis centres and rapid reaction mechanisms aimed at ensuring safety and security.  
Further to the creation of ARGUS, a central Cr isis Centre should be established in the 
Commission, which would bring together represen tatives of all relevant  Commission services 
during an emergency. This crisis centre would coordina te efforts so as to evaluate the best 
practicable options for action and to deci de on the appropriate response measures. A 
comprehensive emergency system in place at EU  level requires that associated with each 
degree of risk there be a uniform  approach to risk analysis (assessments, security levels, 
response actions etc). Therefore a security risk  analysis system should be developed, whereby 
 
EN 11   EN additional security measures may be triggered in general and, where ap propriate, the use of 
specialised measures in particular. Member St ates not wishing to deploy a certain measure 
would be able to address a specific th reat by alternative security measures. 
4.3. A European Union law enforcement network 
The only missing link of the pres ent RAS systems managed at EU  level is an alert system 
concerning public order and secur ity as regards either preparat ion for or response to crises 
involving law enforcement. Terrorist attack resp onses require the participation of traditional 
law enforcement besides the present systems.  A European law enforcement network (LEN) 
will be established and it should be managed by EUROPOL. It should be in place by 2005. It 
will consist of a dedicated 24h/7 days-a-week multi-layered access network, to serve in particular the EU law enforcement communi ty, using the current secure communication 
channels of the Europol network. ARGUS must be notified when LEN would be triggered by 
the national law enforcement agencies to Euro pol and vice versa. Europol would dedicate an 
Operational Centre –that will act as a comm unications centre with a Europol Officer on call 
24 h/7 days a week. The Europol  Officer on call c ould interact with the Europol Liaison 
Officers of the National Bureaux at Europol. LEN  would require the adoption of operational 
guidelines for handling the Europol law enforcem ent network alerts and agreeing notification 
criteria parameters and classi fication of events. Member Stat es would need to identify a 
responsible national contact point  authorised to issue/receive alerts and take further action 
where necessary.  
4.4. A European Union Critical infrastructure Warning Information Network 
As referred to in the communication “Critical In frastructure Protection in the fight against 
terrorism”, the Commission will lay down at the latest by the end of 2005 a European 
programme for Critical Infrastr ucture Protection. The Commissi on is of the opinion that a 
Critical Infrastructure Warning Information Network (CIWIN) needs to be established. 
ARGUS should interact with CIWIN in th e same way it interacts with other RAS. 
 
EN 12   EN  
               
TECHNICAL ANNEXES
 
 
EN 13   EN ANNEX 1  
1. MULTI-SECTOR  RESPONSE  FOR  HEALTH  PROTECTION 
Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism has direct consequences not only for 
people, but also for the environment, the food chain and for property. Pr eventing terrorist acts 
and mitigating their consequences requires a mobilisation of actors and resources in many sectors other than health. Of ma jor importance to health security are the measures and actions 
in food, animal, plant and water safety.  
1.1. Food safety 
The EU has a broad body of legislation which covers primary production of agricultural 
products and industrial production of processed food. This legisl ative body provides different 
means to respond to situations in specific sectors. The measur es that would be taken in 
response to a terrorist act in the food sector are not fundam entally different from those 
adopted by the EU in response to accidents in th e recent past. The aspect of the fight against 
bio terrorism that needs developing is the orga nisation of upstream information, investigation 
and information-gathering within the territory of the EU and third countries as well as an 
improved cooperation between authorities and those working in the food chain and their 
education.  
1.2. Animal safety 
Many EU regulations exist in the area of animal safety. In  response to animal health 
emergencies, the Commission will adopt urgent  safeguard measures to supplement existing 
regulations. The Commission manages a bank of a bout 40 million doses of various antigens of 
the foot-and-mouth disease virus for the rapi d formulation of vaccines. There is on-going 
reinforcement of banks of vaccines against foot-and-mouth, classical swine fever, avian 
influenza and bluetongue. Imports are subjec t to strict controls  at the EU borders. 
1.3. Plant safety 
Structures specifically intended to prevent the abuse of plant protection products, which 
sample, analyse and inspect randomly and at regular intervals, are already in place in the EU. Phytosanitary laboratories exist in all Member  States. Strict notification requirements are 
enforced and inspections are carried out in thir d countries for plants intended for planting and 
for specified plant products. A system is also in  place for temporary safe guard measures in the 
case of an imminent danger of introducti on or spread of harmful organisms. 
1.4. Water safety 
As regards water safety, EU laws on the quality of drinki ng water and on the quality of 
surface waters used for drinking water abstracti on are been reviewed to check whether they 
sufficiently cover the requirements for consta nt monitoring of drinking water and other 
appropriate monitoring and early warning syst ems. Multi-barrier systems, the use of 
appropriate markers at key points and the introduction of and adherence to the HACCP 
system by suppliers are being promoted in the co ntext of the programme on health security to 
enhance safety and confidence in early dete ction of infective agents and toxicants.  
 
EN 14   EN ANNEX 2  
1. ACTIONS  IN OTHER  FIELDS 
1.1. Enhancing the protection of the external  border with regard to the movement of 
goods 
As the EU is a Customs Union, the protection of the Internal Market relies exclusively on the 
mechanisms in place at the external bor der and their efficient application.  
The fight against terrorism or any other external  threat relies on the capacity of the national 
customs authorities to block entry at the border of all goods that could present a danger to the 
EU while not hampering legitimate trade. With this in mind the Commission presented a 
Communication to the Council on th e role of customs in the in tegrated management of the 
external border (COM(2003) 452). 
Questions such as a common approach to risks or guaranteeing an appropriate level of human 
resources and equipment are examined in this Communication and further action in this area 
both by the Commission and the Member  States is under consideration. 
At the same time, agreement between the Comm unity and the United States in the framework 
of their "Container Security Initiative" ha s been achieved. Bilate ral negotiations on its 
implementation are continuing. 
1.2. Export control lists 
The EU has a compulsory regime for the contro l of exports of dual-use items and technology 
which contains lists of radiol ogical, nuclear, biological and chemical agents etc. for which 
strict provisions linked to international non -proliferation regimes and export control 
arrangements apply. In the area of  exports of dual use technologi es (civil technologies which 
can be used for military purposes in particular for production or delivery of Weapons of Mass 
Destruction), "the responsibili ties of exporters of dual use items as defined in Regulation 
1334/2000 (legal and natural person s) in ensuring that exports  of dual use technologies does 
not contribute to the developm ent of Weapons of Ma ss Destruction by terro rists are extremely 
important. It is increasingly recognised that  regular dialogue betwee n exporters and national 
authorities and regular inform ation and awareness raising by national authorities vis-à-vis 
their dual use suppliers are a prerequisite fo r the efficient implementation of Regulation 
1334/2000.  
At EU level, a working group established by the article 18 of the Regulation 1334/2000 has 
met regularly and facilitated in teraction between EU Member States' authorities responsible 
for issuing export licenses of dual use items and exporters. However, the Commission is 
conscious that this dialogue can be improved a nd has started to consider options for such 
improvement which have been shared with UNICE at the highest levels as a follow up to the Thessaloniki Action plan against the prolifer ation of WMD (which includes a number of 
actions aiming at strengthening the community e xport control regime and at making the EU a 
leading player in the international export control regimes). 
 
EN 15   EN Concerns over the adverse impact of controls on public health activities, such as barriers for 
and delays in the transport of agents, samp les, reagents and specimens for tests and 
comparisons, persist among national public health  agencies and labora tories. Commission 
services have raised the atten tion of the EU Member States in  2002 on the risk s that delays 
arising from the implementation of  national- (EC) export control legislations in a number of 
important suppliers of relevant  dual-use biological technol ogies (EU and non EU such as 
USA, Japan, Australia, Canada) might create in cas e of a public health crisis whose solution 
would imply quick international cooperation a nd move of sensitive dual use items across 
international borders. 
The Commission has made a number of proposal s for follow up regarding the strengthening 
of the community export control regime in the enlarged EU. In particular the Commission has 
drawn the attention of the EU Member States an d of key third countries to the risks that non 
membership of new EU Member States in expor t control regimes such as Missile Technology 
Control Regime and Wassenaar Arrangement present in terms of weakening of the 
international export control re gimes and for the very functi oning of the Community export 
control regime due to the single market for du al-use items. The Commission has coordinated 
the Task Force in charge of the Peer Reveiw s of Member States' application of Regulation 
1334/2000 in conformity with the Thessaloniki  Action Plan. Drawing on the peer review 
visits which are now finished, the Task Force will present a report to the WP Dual Use with 
suggestions for follow-up which should be of inte rest not only to the ex port control licensing 
officers of the EU but also to all the EU actor s involved in the fight against terrorists getting 
access to dual use technologies in the EU. 
Resolution 1540 of the UN Security Council which calls for all States to adopt measures to 
ensure that terrorists do not access releva nt dual use technologie s contains important 
provisions regarding controls of exports of dua l use items. The Commission is contributing to 
the work carried out in the UN Committee 1540 es tablished to monitor the implementation of 
this Resolution. The Commission has prepared  its contribution on the aspects of the 
implementation of the Resolution which is of EC competence and it has been agreed that all Member States will mention it in their national report to the UN committee in charge of Resolution 1540. 
1.3. The EU Solidarity Fund 
Bearing in mind the significant co sts involved after a major terrorist  attack or natural disaster 
there exist a need to alleviate the financia l consequences for those affected by it. The 
Commission is currently reviewing the possi bility of a common approach to emergency 
situations through a revised EU solidarity fund (in addition to national compensation 
schemes) with the objective to pr ovide financial aid to cope with  emergency situations in the 
aftermath of an unforeseen cr isis (COM(2004) 487). Such an  instrument would provide 
funding to give support to victims of terrorism as well as to alleviate the effects of other 
natural and/or man-made disasters or public health crises. 
Support to the victims and their families as well as contributions to rehabilitations efforts 
must be an integral part of the response to  terrorist attacks in a society bound by solidarity. 
The Commission is currently working on different  aspects of this response and implementing 
a pilot project agreed upon by the Parliament to  support the financing of projects intended to 
help the victims to recover and to raise awar eness of the public agai nst terrorist threat. 
 
EN 16   EN 1.4. Research and technology development  
Following the different requests from the Parliament and the Council, the Commission has 
started a Preparatory Action entitled "Enhancemen t of the European indus trial potential in the 
field of Security research 2004-2006", with a view  to contributing to the improvement of the 
European citizens’ security and to reinforce Eu ropean technological a nd industrial potential in 
this area. This Prepar atory Action covers the period 2004-2006 and addresse s five main areas, 
including the protecti on against terrorism.  
A Group of Personalities (GoP ) was established in 2003 and tasked to propose key 
orientations, principles  and priorities for a future European Security Research Programme 
(ESRP). The GoP report describe s the essential elements of a “European Security Research 
Programme” (ESRP) and its contri bution to address the new securi ty challenges of a changing 
world. Its main recommendations include: 
• The establishment of an ESRP, from 2007 onwards, with funding of at least 1 billion Euros 
per year, additional to currently existing resources, 
• The creation of a “European Security Research Advisory  Board” to define strategic lines 
of action, user involvement, implementation m echanisms and a strategic agenda for the 
ESRP, 
As a follow-up, the Commission adopted on 7 September 2004 a Communication entitled 
“Security Research: The Next St eps” (COM(2004) 353) to initia te a debate w ith the Council 
and the Parliament. It subscribes to the main thrust of the report and indicates steps to be 
taken to progress the activity: 
• Consultation and cooperation with stakeholde rs, especially via the “European Security 
Research Advisory Board” to be established in 2004. 
• Development of an ESRP, to become, from  2007, a specific programme within the 7th 
Framework Programme of  Community Research. 
• Ensuring an effective institutional setti ng, taking into account Common Foreign and 
Security Policy and European Security and Defence Policy and other relevant Community 
policies (e.g. fight against terrorism including bio-terrorism, cross border control, 
transport, environment,…), a nd developing cooperation and s ynergies with the European 
Defence Agency. 
• Establishing a governance structure responding to the needs of  security research work in 
terms of contract, participation and funding. 
In fields directly related to biological and chemical terrorism, the 6th Framework 
Programme’s Scientific Support to Policies activities covers “Civil protection (including 
biosecurity and protection against risks arising from terrorist  attack) and crisis management”. 
Research is currently ongoing on biological agen ts, risk assessment, crop bioterrorism and 
modelling the propagation of bi oterrorist agents. The Comm ission can also call upon the 
advice of the EU Research Group on Countering the Effects of  Biological and Chemical 
Terrorism, encompassing experts from the Member  States was established as a follow up to 
the Research Council of 31 October 2001. 
 
EN 17   EN The Commission has developed real time system s for emergency management (e.g. to help 
emergency response in transport accidents involving dangerous substances). Similar systems 
could be developed as early wa rning to address deliberate attacks in the areas of civil 
protection and health security. The Commission will further work on the establishment of a 
European level threat  assessment methodology. 
Improved surveillance on disease monitoring co uld be supported by the Commission’s Joint 
Research Centre through the development of real-time mon itoring networks, integrating 
normalised instrumentation (e.g. on capture syst ems for biological vectors) and sensors, 
remote sensing data, and meteorol ogical data, which then feed into models that can provide 
alerts in the case of an outbrea k, predict the spreading of di seases and be used to take 
preventive actions. In addition to disease mon itoring, other vulnerabiliti es in the food chain 
can be reduced by improved traceability systems (e.g. in the cold chain, in feedstock and in 
food products), where the Commission can use its  expertise developed in animal and meat 
traceability. 
In addition, the Commission’s services has substa ntial experience in the analysis of lessons 
learned concerning the management of past indu strial and natural disasters, it can expand on 
this experience to collate and analyse data c oncerned with deliberate attacks on installations. 
The information could be conveyed to national civil protection agencies thereby contributing 
to the development of appropriate prevention, preparedness and response measures to address 
deliberate terrorist threats.  
Further improvement and validation of Comm ission and external dispersion models of 
radioactive substances for the consequence mode lling of various types of scenarios including 
‘dirty bomb explosions’ will be supported by th e Commission’s Joint Res earch Centre. Other 
improvements include extending the geographic cove rage of existing dispersion models to the 
entire EU territory, and integration of ex isting dispersions models within Commission 
interactive impact analysis map-based tools to provide the dispersion models with additional 
functionality in order to improve their scenario  and impact analysis functionalities (such as 
estimating affected population and cr itical infra-structures within th e vicinity of the incident). 
Development of statistical techniques will improve the Commission’s early warning rapid alert system on outbreaks of communicable di seases by further studying bio-terror related 
incidents and outbreaks at large.  
1.5. The Commission’s internal rules of procedure for crises 
On 5 March 2003 the Commission adopted a Decision
1 amending its internal Rules of 
Procedure for crises which directly affect  the safety, operation and integrity pf the 
Commission in terms of persons, buildings and information. In this regard on 26 March the 
Commission adopted a second Decision2 on security in crisis situations which institute 
operational procedures for a new crisis management structure. 
                                                 
1 Minutes of the 1603rd meeting of the Commission of 5 March 2003, point No 9: doc. No C(2003) 
744/2. 
2 Written procedure No E/479/2003: document No C(2003)972 of 21 March 2003.