Europe pledges more surveillance after Thalys attack

On 29 August 2015 an European Transport and Home Affairs Ministerial meeting on cross-border cooperation against terrorism and for rail security was held in Paris. The meeting was arranged in the aftermath of the attack on the Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris Thalys express train on 21 August 2015.

Interior ministers from nine European nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) attended the security summit, along with EU Commissioners Dimitris Avramopoulos and Violeta Bulc and the EU's Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove. The meeting was chaired by French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

European ministers pledged to hold more spot ID checks on cross-border trains, reinforce patrols by multi-national police units in stations, and coordinate their security policies more efficiently, however no conclusions were reached on the implementation of more extensive measures. Train safety was to be discussed further in October 2015 at the next meeting of EU Transport Ministers in Luxembourg.

• Primary Source

European Commission: DG Communication: RAPID: STATEMENT/15/5553, 29.08.15: Commissioners Avramopoulos and Bulc at the Paris meeting on cross-border cooperation against terrorism and for rail security http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-15-5553_en.htm

ESO: Background information: Judy Asks: Is Schengen Dead? http://www.europeansources.info/record/judy-asks-is-schengen-dead/

ESO: Background information: French train attack poses EU security questions http://www.europeansources.info/record/french-train-attack-poses-eu-security-questions/

EUObserver, 31.08.15: Nine EU states to increase train security https://euobserver.com/justice/130043

Deutsche Welle, 20.08.16: A year after the Thalys attack, how has European train security changed? http://dw.com/p/1JlzZ

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