By Anne-France White - 26th March 2007
The EU is planning to invest €1.4bn in security research for 2007-13, the European commission has announced.
Speaking at a security conference in Berlin, EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini said Brussels wants to protect Europeans more effectively against crime, terrorism and natural catastrophes.
"Terrorists and international criminals care nothing about national borders – they will attack whenever and wherever they feel they will obtain the maximum result, unfortunately," Frattini argued.
"Governments and law enforcing agencies must use technology to better protect citizens' security," he added. "Our response must be as sophisticated as the criminals'."
Funding, allocated through the EU’s seveth framework programme for research, will go to programmes to protect the EU’s external borders, fight people smuggling, and protect transport systems, among other things.
Governments and industry leaders have also agreed to increase cooperation in a special research consortium to develop closer partnerships between authorities, researchers and security companies.
Germany's education and research minister Annette Schavan noted that some 80 per cent of all security-relevant infrastructure is privately owned in Germany.
"In view of the peculiarities of security research, what Europe needs is a long-term strategic platform which will shape the transfer of knowledge from research to application as effectively as possible," Schavan said.
"There has to be a joint analysis of potential threats and joint answers."
Frattini and industry commissioner Günter Verheugen - who also attended the event - emphasised that they want Europe to produce its own security infrastructure.
"Up to now, Europe has been a consumer of security technology, but now it is to become a producer," Frattini said.
Both Verheugen and Schavan insisted that the research programmes will go "not to repressive but to preventive solutions".
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