The European Commission presented a Communication on Tuesday explaining why and how security research should be co-ordinated at the EU level. A €65 million budget has been earmarked for the initial phase.

In the light of the security fears that have come to the fore since the September 11th 2001 atrocities, governments worldwide have been beefing up their security legislation and arrangements. But this is leading to fragmentation and duplication, according to the Commission. What is needed, it says, is a unified and Europe-wide co-ordination.

The Communication, "Towards a programme to advance European security through Research and Technology", calls for "Preparatory Action" to address the needs of potential users of relevant technologies. Users will mainly come from the public sector, namely government, security agencies and non-governmental organisations.

Research projects will include protection of networked systems, protecting against terrorism and crisis management.

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