29/10/2004
New EU Measures Against Terrorism

The European Commission has adopted this week four Communications in which new measures for fighting terrorism are presented. The four Communications respond to requests made by the European Council in March and June and aim to contribute to the preparation, together with the Council, of the European Council meeting of 17 December 2004. The different documents put forward clear suggestions on what would enhance European prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist attacks, respectively on terrorist financing, on prevention and consequence management and finally on critical infrastructure protection.

In the wake of the terrorist outrage which struck Madrid and the European Union as a whole on 11 March, the European Council agreed a set of strategic objectives which, since then, have directed the Union’s fight against terrorism. The prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist attacks is at the core of these strategic objectives, which specifically include: the reduction of access by terrorists to financial and other economic resources; maximising the capacity within EU bodies and Member States to detect investigate and prosecute terrorists and prevent terrorist attacks; and enhancing the capability of Member States to deal with the consequences of a terrorist attack. At its meeting of 18 June 2004 the European Council endorsed the revised EU Plan of Action on Combating Terrorism. The effective prevention, preparedness and response of the Union to terrorist attacks are overarching objectives reflected in many of the wide ranging measures and actions identified in the Plan of Action.

The first of the four Communications, entitled Prevention, Preparedness and Response to terrorist attacks sets the other three Communications against the general framework of what the Commission is doing in the implementation of the Action Plan on fighting terrorism. The Communication proposes the notion that the fight against terrorism must be not only integrated – bringing all different policies together – but also inclusive - including all social, economic and political actors. It proposes a novel way of involving citizens, civil society and Parliaments on a reflection on how to reconcile the different objectives and concerns involved in fighting terrorism.

In order to foster such inclusive policy and to promote a “civic and democratic debate on securing freedom” the Commission proposes that the EU should honour the victims of the most deadly terrorist attack in Europe by carrying out, before the 11th of March 2005, a Memorial Report addressed to the European and national parliaments. This would describe what has been done in the fight against terrorism since the 11th of March 2004 and outline the challenges ahead.

The communication announces a “public-private security dialogue” with the economic actors. It recalls the cross-cutting importance of security research and the recent report from the group of personalities which advocates and additional funding of 1 billion €/year for this effect from 2007 onwards.