Report: US and EU Must Rethink Counterterrorism Measures that Violate Our Shared Values

On May 27, 2009, Anthony Dworkin of the European Council on Foreign Relations published a report, Beyond the "War on Terror": Towards a New Transatlantic Framework for Counterterrorism [1], that calls on European leaders to recommit to finding common ground with the U.S. on shaping future counterterrorism policies.

After the attacks on September 11, 2001, friction over divergent counterterrorism strategies arose between the United States and European Union (EU).   The disagreements let to practical problems on the battlefield, discord over differing due process and material support laws and muddled the formation of a bulwark counter narrative to the ones offered by terrorist groups.   Many on both sides of the Atlantic view the election of a new administration in the U.S. as an opportunity to reexamine current policies that have hindered the fight against terrorism.  The report urges the U.S. and the EU to define a new era of transatlantic standards for defeating terrorism that incorporates traditional European and American values, such as a respect for international law and due process, including the restoration of the original intent of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. 

Dworkin strongly advocates for the creation of a "public declaration of principles" on subjects such as torture, extraordinary rendition, and fair trials. This declaration would act as a goodwill gesture to other nations and be the guiding framework for shaping future counterterrorism policies. The report recommends that the EU review its own counter-terrorism principles molded from the variety of views that exist within its member states. According to the report, the principles would encompass "both armed conflict and law enforcement, in recognition of the fact that some fundamental rules should govern state action irrespective of the precise legal qualification of the situation involved." The principles would minimize the debate in determining when the threshold of armed conflict has been met.