It requires very diverse sorts of action and effective cooperation at many levels, the limits of competence exercised by the authorities notwithstanding.

There is an unfortunate principle in human hierarchies, particularly military ones, that people are promoted not just to their limit of competence but of necessity just past it.

"Terrorists and professional criminals are increasingly adept at exploiting the limits of competence of national agencies, the differences between legal systems in countries and gaps in cooperation between services," the community ministers warned.

The 1986 organic law defined the limits of competence for regional police forces, although the restrictions imposed did not apply to the existing forces in the Basque Country and Navarre and applied only in part to those in Catalonia.