Does Terror Take a Holiday? Amid warnings of a summer 'bloodbath,' the coordination of antiterror efforts in Europe is lagging.

Byline: Eric Pape and Christopher Dickey (With Friso Endt in The Hague, Stefan Theil in Berlin and Tracy McNicoll in Paris)

Ah, summer. A time when Europeans make their annual exodus to the beach, to the mountains, to hiking paths and country lanes. In France, nearly half the population takes August off. Across the continent, even police and medical workers let down their guards. And the record shows that terrorists, knowing this, often take their best shots this time of year. ETA, the IRA, the Real IRA, the Red Army Faction, right-wing Italian radicals and Armenian, Lebanese, and Algerian killers have all mounted murderous terror sprees during summers past.

Surely that couldn't happen again. Not after the shock of September 11, 2001, in the United States. Not after the slaughter in Madrid, only four months ago, when 191 people were killed in coordinated attacks on commuter trains. Europeans know they're living in an age of new and devastating terror. They've heard postatrocity proclamations by their officials vowing to stay on the job, to coordinate enforcement measures and intelligence sharing, to protect their people with greater cooperation than ever before.

Well, don't believe it. If there's been a wake-up call in Europe, then many officials are taking it under a beach umbrella. In reality, experts say, the European Union as such is woefully unprepared to stop a catastrophic attack--and the danger's growing every day.

Osama bin Laden and his acolytes are making ever more unequivocal threats--against the Italians, the British, any Europeans allied with America. Bin Laden put his rep on the line in April when he released a fiery audiotape promising a truce to those who turned their backs on the United States and Israel--and war for those who refused. The ultimatum expired July 15. Sure enough, last week a group with presumed ties to Al Qaeda posted an explicit notice on an extremist Web site warning that the battle is about to begin. "We will create waterfalls of blood," the so-called Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades warned European governments. "Given the end of the truce of our sheik Osama, we declare a war in your faces and in the face of your silent people." In terrorist-speak, that means it's open season on Europe.

So NEWSWEEK phoned the head of Europol, Jurgen Storbeck, for comment. His job is to facilitate the exchange of information about terrorist activities. "I'm so sorry," said a beleaguered secretary, "I think it's the wrong moment to call." Storbeck lost his job at the end of June when his contract expired. The European Union's Council of Ministers was supposed to agree on a successor, it seems, but couldn't. When will it get around to naming a replacement? Maybe in the fall. Meanwhile, Europol's acting director, Mariano Simancas, "is on holiday for the time being," said a junior staffer. As for Gijs de Vries, appointed Europe's new "Mr. Counterterrorism" after the Madrid bombings, his secretary in Brussels told NEWSWEEK he'd be leaving on vacation "the way we always do in August." At the end of last week his office was closed.

Europe is not defenseless. But recent studies suggest that's because the cops, investigating magistrates and members of the intelligence services have taken the initiative to work together, even as ...