Terror czar

last updated 8 January 2015

Brussels

European ministers agreed this week to create the post of “anti-terror czar,” to oversee the E.U.’s efforts against terrorism. The czar will report directly to the E.U.’s foreign-policy chief, Javier Solana, and will try to coordinate the intelligence of 15—soon to be 25—member countries. But the czar won’t have access to everything. Several countries, notably France and Britain, worried that protecting sources would be impossible if top-secret information must be shared with every E.U. government. Solana said the czar’s limited role would be adequate, and he warned against overreacting to the threat of terrorism. “We mustn’t change the way we live,” he told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag. “Europe is not at war.”