Unity in the face of threats

"We are all Londoners today." It's a message which has stood out from the thousands of tributes in the wake of the attacks on the UK capital.

But it also neatly encapsulates what both of us - and our colleagues across the European Union - have been saying for many months when it comes to issues of freedom, security and justice. Terrorism, organised crime and illegal migration affect individual countries but can only be dealt with by the international community as a whole. The networks involved in mounting an attack like those in London or Madrid cross national borders - their funding, organisation, hardware and their twisted ideology all have an international dimension.

Now is not the time to turn in on ourselves and become isolated but the time for closer cooperation between countries, to combat the threats we all face.

EU justice and home affairs ministers were united the other day, declaring that the terrorists will be defeated.

We were already working hard on a joint response to terrorism in the EU through the actions set out in the counter-terrorism action plan. Assisted by the efforts of Gijs De Vries, the EU's terrorism coordinator, we are ensuring all countries work more closely together to effectively fight this threat. The events of July 7 in London have spurred us to strengthen our commitment and accelerate a timetable already in place. Our agreement to this approach to combat terrorism is an urgent, yet collective and proportionate response.

Our response recognises that the rights and liberties we value in a democratic society sit alongside other fundamentals - the right to life itself and the right to go to work without fear of a terrorist attack.

It's this balance between "public" and "private" civil liberties that we have to maintain, so our daily lives and business can continue without hindrance, but rights can also be protected.

A case in point is the retention of phone and internet records. Not the content, but who called who, which time and again has proved an essential component of criminal investigations. In the aftermath of the Madrid bombings this information proved its value and investigators working on the London bombings have also found it useful. By having minimum standards for retaining this information we will be able to share it confidently across countries and ensure future investigations, wherever they take place in Europe, can make use of this powerful tool against organised crime and terrorism.

Earlier this week the European Commission presented two further concrete proposals, both of which the UK Presidency will take forward.

First, we want to better control the firearms, explosives, bomb-making equipment and technologies that are the terrorists' deadly tools. By ensuring these materials are more secure - from the start of their production to the end - we can remove materials from the terrorists' hands and potentially thwart attacks.

Key to this is the support of industry - including producers, end-users, transporters and researchers - and we will start formal talks with interested parties to develop common standards on the storage, commercialisation, transport and traceability of components and end products. Member states and Europol will also build on work to improve the security of explosives and firearms, prevent their misuse and ensure that registration becomes a routine feature for any transaction of commercial explosives.

The second proposal, when adopted, will facilitate law enforcement cooperation, especially at the internal borders of the EU, so as to achieve a higher level of security throughout the European Union. It will also improve police cooperation between member states in "hot pursuit" cases, where criminals flee from one country to the other. To do that, we propose joint patrols, as well as joint intervention and surveillance operations, to ensure criminals will be brought to justice wherever they are in the EU.

The will to tackle terrorism, no matter where it manifests itself or originates, is clearly strong. As representatives of our citizens we must make sure we deliver what we have promised - a failure to do this would be disastrous for the institutions of Europe but more importantly for the people of our countries.

Europe's citizens expect the EU to represent them; to look after their interests - just as they do with their national representatives - and this is a great challenge. In short, if we fail to make the EU relevant to people, they will lose confidence in it.

Last year we were all Madrilenos, today we are Londoners, tomorrow... who knows? Terrorists' victims come from all countries; their attacks are not aimed at the city or country involved but at all civilised societies. It is this shared threat which unites, rather than divides our peoples - and makes us determined to act as one.

Mr Clarke is British Home Secretary and Mr Frattini is Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security.