EU Anti-Terrorism Chief

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told the AP news agency that he and his European colleagues had agreed in Brussels on Tuesday, Sept. 18, that they would find "the proper expert" to fill the post.

Schäuble, however, did not confirm reports that a Belgium diplomat was to take up the post.

The German DPA news agency reported that the new EU anti-terrorism coordinator would be Gilles de Kerchove d'Ousselghem, a Belgian law professor and high-ranking official at the EU's Justice and Home Affairs directorate.

Portuguese Interior Minister Rui Pereira, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana would name the new counter-terrorism coordinator "very soon," according to European media reports.

The counter-terrorism chief will be responsible for coordinating the application of the EU's "anti-terror strategy" in the bloc's 27 member nations, as well as in working groups and at meetings of the various EU ministers.

New terror czar must be more effective

Schäuble also said the EU must clarify how the new coordinator can be "more effective" in fulfilling his tasks.

Gijs de Vries, the bloc's first counter-terrorism chief, resigned in March. He gave personal reasons for his departure, but many observers said the Dutchman was frustrated by the lack of cooperation from national interior and justice ministers.

Despite widespread acceptance that crime, and especially terrorism, must be fought internationally, national governments have been reluctant to give EU officials power over issues of justice and domestic security.

No additional powers

Solana said the new counter-terrorism head would not receive more powers than de Vries had.

"It will be powers that will be -- I don't have to call them expanded -- they will be deeper and in a much closer relation with the ministers and the different countries that have a lot to say on the fight against terrorism," he told reporters.

Pereira said that during an informal meeting, he, Solana and other EU ministers had discussed the profile and powers of a new anti-terrorism coordinator.

"We concluded that [he] should have a largely technical profile, and that he should be particularly concerned with pooling resources between member states and ensuring smooth cooperation between all EU institutions," said Pereira.

Post vacant during the past six months

The anti-terrorism coordinator's post was created in 2004 following the train bombings in Madrid which killed nearly 200 people. The position has remained vacant since March, when de Vries resigned.

"I think the first coordinator was named during the circumstances of the times," Solana told AFP news agency. "The situation has evolved, relations between countries are closer, deeper."

Recent arrests of terrorist suspects in Germany, Denmark and Austria have confirmed that the threat of terrorist attacks within the bloc remains high, EU officials said.