{"id":29266,"date":"2015-11-20T21:39:23","date_gmt":"2015-11-20T21:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/11\/20\/eu-officials-debate-intel-agency-other-security-steps-after-paris-attacks\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:28:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:28:35","slug":"eu-officials-debate-intel-agency-other-security-steps-after-paris-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2015\/11\/20\/eu-officials-debate-intel-agency-other-security-steps-after-paris-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Officials Debate Intel Agency, Other Security Steps After Paris Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BRUSSELS \u2014\u00a0The European Commission has called for the establishment of an EU-wide intelligence agency in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks. \u00a0 “I believe it is a moment to make one more step forward and put the basis for the creation of a European intelligence agency,”\u00a0Speaking on Friday, <\/span>EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said Friday.\u00a0 \u00a0 The demand comes <\/span>came as European Union interior ministers held emergency talks in Brussels on boosting security and after the <\/span>French President Francois Hollande’s decision to order an “intensification” of anti-IS<\/span>\u00a0intensify strikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.\u00a0Francois <\/span>Hollande has also presented a UN draft resolution calling for global support in the fight against the so-called <\/span>Islamic State group. \u00a0E<\/span>Union\u00a0interior ministers called for stepped-up checks on EUuropean Union<\/span> citizens entering the 26-nation Schengen zone in a move aimed at preventing foreign fighters moving back and forth in the region<\/span> in the wake of the Paris terror attacks by<\/span> Islamist militants<\/span>\u00a0attacks in Paris, which left 129 people dead and hundreds injured. \u00a0 The move would broaden the<\/span> current checks, which focus on non-EU citizens, to potentially all those entering by land, air or sea into Europe\u2019s border-free zone. It comes as evidence has emerged that the presumed ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year-old Belgian who died during a police raid on<\/span> Wednesday, travell<\/span>ed to Syria and then came back undetected into the EU. \u00a0 The proposed tightening of checks on all travellers at the external borders of the EU follows recognition that Europe has fallen short in screening and tracking suspected\u00a0terrorist suspect<\/span>s. \u00a0 According to a draft text of the ministers’ statement, EU ministers will “undertake to implement immediately the necessary systematic and coordinated checks at external borders, including on individuals enjoying the right of free movement.” \u00a0 In a separate move, France’s Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has called on Europe to “wake up” to the threat posed by Islamic State extremists and take steps to ensure the safety of citizens.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Terrorists are crossing the borders of the European Union,” he said.\u00a0“It is urgent that Europe wakes up, organises itself and defends itself against the terrorist threat.” he said.<\/span> \u00a0The <\/span>French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says\u00a0police have conducted 600 raids targeting Islamic extremists in the week since the Paris attacks. \u00a0 The Belgium government, meanwhile, has unilaterally introduced a raft of new security measures following\u00a0in the wake of<\/span> the Paris attacks\u00a0and the consequent focus on Belgian inner cities as a crucible of jihadism, including:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n