10.

3 European cooperation
The European multilateral cooperation between intelligence and security services is given
shape in various European partnerships such as the Club of Bern, the Middle Europe
Conference, the Counter Terrorist Group and the Joint Situation Centre of the EU Council
Secretariat. In addition, European cooperation to a large extent takes place in The Hague
in various consultative structures in which the Dutch position on certain policy dossiers is
determined. In 2005 the AIVD participated in many of these structures, in which context
efforts
were made to incorporate insight obtained by the AIVD into the Dutch position on the
relevant
subjects.
The AIVD also regularly consulted with the European Coordinator for Counter-terrorism
(EUCTC),
Gijs de Vries, in 2005. Whenever possible the European Coordinator was provided with
information relevant within the context of his responsibilities. In addition, ideas were
exchanged on how the Netherlands and in particular the AIVD could effectively contribute
to
counter-terrorism on the European level.
10.3.1 Club of Bern
In 2005 the Club of Bern (or Club de Berne, CdB), an informal partnership of security
services
of the countries of the EU, Switzerland and Norway, welcomed five of the ten new EU
Member
States as full members within the Club. The Hungarian, Slovenian, Czech, Polish and
Latvian
security services have joined the Club. Counter-terrorism remains a central focus of the
CdB.
In addition, attention is paid to subjects such as counter-intelligence and the proliferation
of
weapons of mass destruction.
10.3.2 Middle Europe Conference
The Middle Europe Conference (MEC) is a consultative forum for services of central
European
countries, which also includes several western European services, including the AIVD.
The multitude of consultative bodies, combined with a convergence as to composition,
has resulted in the AIVD reducing the prominent position it has occupied for over a
decade.
The AIVD is still involved in realising the expansion of the MEC with countries from former-
Yugoslavia and Albania.
10.3.3 Counter Terrorist Group
In 2005 the AIVD was again closely involved in the development of the Counter Terrorist
Group
(CTG, the organisation of the intelligence and security services responsible for
counterterrorism
of the EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland), as it has been since its
formation in 2001. The AIVD was closely involved in the group’s projects in the field of
CBRN
terrorism and the investigative methods into the use of the internet by terrorists. The
AIVD
initiated a project in which a comparative analysis was made of known cases of
recruitment in
CTG countries, in order to establish new clues for operational investigations into this
issue.
The chairmanships of the CTG (first half 2005 Luxemburg, second half UK) have
reinforced the
link with EU institutions. For example, the cooperation with SitCen, which began in 2004,
was
further developed and laid down in a Letter of Intent, containing agreements on the
cooperation with Europol, and the EU ambassadors were informed of the cooperation
within
the group.
10.3.4 Joint Situation Ce n t r e
The Joint Situation Centre (SitCen) of the EU Council Secretariat commenced its activities
in
2004 by producing counter-terrorism analyses based on information from intelligence and
security services. In 2005 the AIVD made a substantial contribution to this by means of
analysis capacity and providing information. Late 2005 agreements were made between
the EU
Council Secretariat and Europol on the exchange of information between SitCen and
Europol.
These agreements constitute a major improvement in the exchange of information
between
the intelligence and security services (which supply SitCen with their analyses) and
Europol.