European Union: Steps for Collective Fight Against Terrorism

Ministers of Justice and Interior of the EU and representatives of EU institutions issued a joint statement on the terrorist attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016, reports the BH News Agency Patria.

- We express our shock at the attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. We are horrified by these terrible acts of terrorism and strongly condemn them. We express our deepest condolences to the victims of these attacks, their families and friends, and we sympathize with them. We express our support for Belgium, its people, and especially Brussels, and we express our solidarity with them. We are determined in our joint fight against terrorism. As the heads of state or government and the leaders of European institutions have already pointed out, our open democratic society has been attacked. We will preserve our values in the fight against terrorism.

Today, the Belgian authorities informed us about how they are dealing with this crisis, and we discussed the lessons to be learned from the recurring patterns in terrorist attacks and the networks that support them.

In light of these events and recognizing the significant progress made in improving our collective ability to combat terrorism at the Member State and EU levels, the ministers are convinced that it is necessary to:

1. further build on national efforts to urgently investigate networks involved in the Paris and Brussels attacks and similar networks;

2. adopt the directive on Passenger Name Record (PNR) data in April 2016 and implement it urgently, ensuring that Passenger Information Units (PIU) begin exchanging data as soon as possible;

3. decisively continue the ongoing work on: the swift finalization of legislation on combating terrorism, on systematic checks at the external borders of the Schengen area, on the control of the acquisition and possession of weapons, and on the extension of the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) to third-country nationals; on the implementation of the action plan to combat the financing of terrorism; combating the counterfeiting of documents and the full implementation of existing EU rules on explosives precursors, and on further cooperation between the European Union and Turkey, as well as North African, Middle Eastern, and Western Balkan countries in the fight against terrorism;

4. exchange information with transport and logistics authorities as needed to ensure that risk assessments are carried out effectively and efficiently, and that mitigation measures are adapted to potential threats to transport as needed;

5. urgently increase the systematic input, consistent use, and interoperability of European and international databases in the areas of security, travel, and migration by fully leveraging technological advancements and incorporating privacy protection measures from the outset. This is particularly important for reliable identity verification. The Commission will present a communication on smart borders and interoperability in the coming weeks. In this context, work on developing an automated European fingerprint recognition system integrated into the Schengen Information System (SIS) should be accelerated. The EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, the Presidency, the Commission, relevant agencies, and experts will join forces to present concrete results by June 2016, particularly with the aim of improving the collection, verification, and linking of information in the fight against terrorism;

6. as a priority, find ways to secure digital evidence and collect it more quickly and efficiently by intensifying cooperation with third countries and service providers active in Europe to increase compliance with EU and Member State legislation and direct contact with law enforcement authorities. Specific measures to address this complex issue will be determined at the June Council meeting;

7. continue to develop effective preventive measures, particularly by improving the early detection of signs of radicalization at the local level and combating Daesh rhetoric, especially through communication strategies and the development of quality rehabilitation programs. The Radicalisation Awareness Network and the Strategic Communications Network will further strengthen their support for practitioners, civil society, and Member States in this regard. The Commission will intensify its work with IT companies, particularly on the EU Internet Forum, to combat terrorist propaganda and to develop a code of conduct against hate speech online by June 2016;

8. provide full support to the work of the Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG), particularly by further accelerating the establishment of a specialized platform for multilateral real-time information exchange;

9. make more regular use of joint investigation teams, whose usefulness has been proven after the Paris attacks, to coordinate investigations and collect and exchange evidence;

10. establish a joint liaison team within Europol's European Counter-Terrorism Centre (ECTC) composed of national counter-terrorism experts to support Member State law enforcement authorities in investigating the broader European and international dimensions of the current terrorist threat, and Member States are invited to second their experts to it. This team will use Europol's law enforcement capabilities to monitor the threat posed by foreign fighters, terrorist financing flows, illicit weapons, and online propaganda.