European spy to boost intel-sharing on potential terrorists

The Counter Terrorism Group (CGT), a discreet and informal grouping of domestic spy agencies from the European Union countries as well as Norway and Switzerland, aims to create the new platform by July 1.
The November 13 attacks in Paris by terrorists linked to the Islamic State (IS) group prompted renewed calls for greater cross-border intelligence cooperation in Europe, especially after it was revealed that Belgium had information on the perpetrators of the attacks.
But it was far from the first time that the prevention of terrorist acts has been hindered by the lack of information sharing within the EU.
"Terrorist attacks in Europe, like recently in France, have shown time and again that both IS and al Qaeda operate in international networks," the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maassen, said in a statement.
 Founded in 2002, the Counter Terrorism Group is currently chaired by the Netherlands, which has been tasked with setting up the new intelligence-sharing platform in the first half of 2016.