The GMF Transatlantic Center in Brussels hosted a discussion about "The Transatlantic Fight against Terrorism" on June 24 with guest speaker Admiral James Loy, the deputy secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. As the number two official behind Tom Ridge, Loy is responsible for overseeing 180,000 employees who have been brought together from 22 departments in the most sweeping transformation of the U.S. government since World War II. The essence of the debate focused on how to reconcile the new security fears in the age of 21st century terrorism with democratic values, data privacy rules and commercial considerations. He stressed three biggest concerns — risks of rogue nuclear, biological, and cyber-terror attacks. As pointed out by several senior officials in the EU Commission, the latter threat presents an area where greater collaboration between the European Union and the United States can achieve real progress. Loy promised to follow up on this issue when he meets with Antonio Vitorino and Jonathan Faull in further discussions. The event was attended by well over 100 people that demonstrated how these issues cut across just about every aspect of our societies and daily lives — often in ways that we never really think about.

You can access Loy’s comments by following this link: useu.clients.telemak.com