ISLAMIC State (IS) and other militants are very likely to attempt big new attacks in Europe following those in Paris, the European Union (EU’s) police agency said yesterday, echoing previous warnings by senior security officials.

Reuters said that the assessment was based on discussions concluded eight weeks ago by security agencies from EU states. The eight-page public report said further attacks could even take place quite soon.

The events in Paris “appear to indicate a shift toward a broader strategy of IS going global, of them specifically attacking France, but also the possibility of attacks against other member-states of the EU in the near future”, it said.

There was “every reason to expect” an attack, by Islamic State or “IS-inspired terrorists or another religiously inspired terrorist group”. “This is in addition to the threat of lone actor attacks, which has not diminished,” it said.

At a news conference to mark the launch of a new European Counter-Terrorism Centre within Europol, based in The Hague, its director, Rob Wainwright, said Islamic State “has the willingness and capability to carry out further attacks in Europe”.

Since immediately after the Paris attacks on November 13, in which Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people, Wainwright, a senior British police officer, has said further similar attacks are likely in Europe and that “lone wolf” militants are no longer the prime threat.