{
  "id": "RL31612",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31612",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 100606,
      "date": "2002-10-17",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:03:16.631941",
      "title": "European Counterterrorist Efforts: Political Will and Diverse Responses in the First Year After September 11",
      "summary": "The attacks of September 11 prompted the Bush Administration to improve law enforcement and\nother coordination between the United States and European governments dealing with international\nterrorism. European governments have also taken measures to enhance cooperation among\nthemselves. Most notable are European Union efforts to enhance cross-border sharing of intelligence\nand police information, extend the reach of warrants, and strengthen external border controls.\n Some European countries have a long history of fighting terrorism, and have refined existing\npractices as part of their counterterror policy. Others with little experience in combating terrorism\nare developing measures for the first time. Efforts to fight terror include the disruption of terrorists'\nfinancial networks, the emerging EU regime for tracking asylum seekers, and arrest and trial of\nsuspected terrorists.\n However, some governments have been slow to accept the U.S. position that Al Qaeda poses\na significant new threat, and are correspondingly reluctant to approve enhanced law enforcement\nmeasures, or are inattentive to their implementation. These governments may believe that the United\nStates is under a new threat, but that the danger does not extend to their own societies, or that a more\nactive role in the fight would increase the likelihood that they would be targeted. Some governments\nalso have different evidentiary standards from their neighbors and the United States; these\ngovernments may set the evidentiary bar very high before undertaking an investigation or making\nan arrest.\n Domestic political factors are influencing the debate in some countries over terrorism, and\nraising concerns over religious and ethnic tolerance. Several countries, such as Italy, Denmark,\nAustria, and the Netherlands, have popular currents increasingly wary of or hostile to immigration. \nSome political parties in these countries are using fear of terrorism to brand Moslems as extremists,\nand attempting to restrict their immigration.\n Resources available to governments also play an important role in the counterterror effort. \nAbsent a major terrorist attack on their own soil, some governments lack the political support in their\nparliaments and among their populations to divert resources from efforts to resolve social and\neconomic problems and towards greater security against terrorism.\n The events of September 11 led to immediate and unprecedented European efforts to cooperate\nwith the United States in fighting terrorism. However, by early 2002 the emphasis placed by the\nBush Administration on military action beyond Afghanistan, and on strong support for the Sharon\ngovernment in Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians, began to raise doubts among some\nEuropeans about the overall U.S. approach to counterterrorism. There are concerns in Europe that\nthe United States is using the war against terrorism to pursue broader and more controversial foreign\npolicy goals.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31612",
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "European Affairs",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Immigration Policy",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "Middle Eastern Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}