Brussels, 13/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - On 12 July, members of the EP committee on civil liberties (LIBE) called on the European Commission to make a detailed assessment of counter-terrorism policy in the EU, with the adoption of the report by Sophie In't Veld (ALDE), despite the opposition of the EPP Group. The LIBE committee also called on the Commission to complete and establish an inventory of its policies on the occasion of a joint meeting of the European Parliament and its national parliamentary committees responsible for overseeing counter-terrorism policies, a press release from the rapporteur states. Sophie In't Veld asserts: “In a democratic society, all policies are subject to parliamentary scrutiny and evaluation. The regular standards of transparency and accountability should apply to counter terrorism like any other policy area. But so far remarkably little has been done to evaluate our counter terrorism efforts and their results. An in-depth evaluation is long overdue and will undoubtedly lead to more efficient and effective policies”. The parliamentary committee thus called for a retroactive assessment of the impact on civil liberties and fundamental rights of existing measures, as well as compulsory proportionality tests for future measures. In addition, the report calls for more transparency, access to information and adequate parliamentary oversight of counter terrorism policies, including intelligence sharing. The report also calls for a detailed evaluation of the costs of counter terrorism, both on public authorities and the private sector. (S.P./transl.jl)