"Preventing and fighting terrorism has become one of the main challenges for the European Union": one year after the bombings that upset the city of London on July 7th 2005, the president of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso, commemorated the victims with a brief ceremony at the Berlaymont, the seat of the Executive Committee in Brussels. All the EU institutions stopped at 1 pm for two minutes of silence. "The London bombings were an attack against all the European citizens, an offence to the great principles on which the EU is based", added the Portuguese politician, according to whom international terrorism "aims at destabilising society, by spreading tension, fear and panic through violence on harmless citizens". Barroso then connected the London events with the earlier ones of Madrid, confirming the will of a "shared and factual response" by the European countries and the international community. In this sense, the European Union is working at the The Hague Program to "create a space of freedom, security and justice" in Europe. The next meeting about the strategy is due in Tampere, Finland, from 20th to 22nd September. In the meantime, the EU commission has allocated 2 million euros to outline plans for the victims of terrorism (material aids, psychological and legal assistance to the persons concerned and to their families).
