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Trevi and Belgium (1)

01 January 1991

Trevi and Belgium
artdoc June=1992

The Belgian Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Tobback, told Green
MP Hugo Van Dienderen that the Trevi countries (all 12 EC member
states) exchange the following information on the maintenance of
public order: 1) the modus operandi of the groups and persons,
disturbing public order, and police methods and tactics; 2)
events which could have consequences for other countries; 3) the
international movement of hooligans and demonstrators. Each Trevi
country, he said, had a contact point which in Belgium is Police
General du Royaume. In countering terrorism there is exchange of
information: 1) on the institutional and legal framework; 2)
ongoing analysis of the threat of terrorism in Europe as well as
from within the country and from abroad (third countries).
The Trevi working group on terrorism has prepared a definition
of terrorism which has been accepted by all Trevi member states.
It is defined as:

The use or attempt to use violence by a organised group to
achieve political goals.

The definition of violence is unclear, it could refer to
demonstrations or direct action by political groups and one
country's interpretation of this definition may be very different
from another. Moreover, the storage of information on such groups
and individuals on the Trevi-based Europol data system which is
currently being considered presents an even greater danger (a
working group report on the Europol data system will be
considered at the meeting of Interior Ministers in June).
The services involved in Belgium are the civilian security
service `Surete', the gendarmerie, the coordinating `Groupe
Interforce Antiterroriste' (GIA) and the `Police General du
Royaume'. The Belgian Trevi contact-point is the GIA. The GIA
acts on terrorism with members of the gendarmerie, the `Police
General du Royaume', the police judiciaire, the Surete, the SDRA
(military security service) and a magistrate.

Statewatch, vol 2, no 3, May-June 1992
Europe