Islamist terror cells remain active in the European Union, although authorities managed to foil many planned attacks last year, the EU's Europol police agency said yesterday.

Europol deputy director Mariano Simancas said that only one attack attributable to Islamist militants took place in Europe 2008 - a bomb in a restaurant in Britain that went off too early, "causing only one victim, the terrorist".

"But many plans were foiled," he said, citing in particular examples in Germany and Italy and 187 arrests in Britain, France and Spain.

"Most are men organised in small autonomous, independent cells that can move easily, which is very worrying," he said.

"We're talking about home-made terrorism."

He said that such cells were financed by siphoning money off of charitable associations and were adept at using the internet for communication and propaganda.

"Only seven European countries notified that they were targeted in 2008, but we're all feeling the threat," he said.

Although Islamist terror attacks are a major concern, the most common attacks in Europe are carried out by separatist movements.

Of the total 515 attacks or planned attacks tallied in the European Union last year, 397 were by separatists movements - 97 per cent of which were in Spain and France.