Brussels, 15/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - In Strasbourg on Wednesday 15 MEPs gave their backing to a resolution submitted by the ALDE, S&D and Greens/EFA Groups calling on the Commission to carry out a proper assessment of EU counter-terrorism measures with regard to their cost, effectiveness, democratic scrutiny and impact on civil liberties. This alternative resolution replaced the original report by Sophie In't Veld (ALDE), of which the European Parliament (EP) civil liberties committee was scathing in order to ensure a clearer plenary session majority, with the removal of a number of passages over which there was disagreement, a source said.
The method used and the content of both the alternative resolution and the original report (which MEPs decided should not be put to the vote after the resolution was adopted) were fiercely challenged by the EPP Group. The alternative resolution, which is not legally binding, won the day in the plenary session but only by the skin of its teeth (307 votes to 259, with 54 abstentions).
In passing the resolution, the EP took as its starting point that “remarkably little has been done to assess to what degree EU counter-terrorism policies have achieved the stated objectives”. The Parliament calls on the European Commission to produce a “full and detailed evaluation” of the counter-terrorism measures taken so far in Europe. This assessment should weigh whether these policies have been based on evidence (and not on assumptions), their effectiveness and impact on civil liberties and fundamental rights, it adds.
MEPs also called on the Commission to draw up a map of all existing counter-terrorism policies in the 27 countries of the EU and establish whether these measures are subject to effective democratic scrutiny.
The European Commission should draft a full report “on all resources spent by the European Union, the EU member states and private companies on measures with counter-terrorism objectives, directly or indirectly” including those measures specifically related to counter-terrorism activities, IT counter-terrorism related staff, systems and databases, the protection of fundamental rights and data protection, democracy and the rule of law, funding counter-terrorism related research, and the development of the relevant EU budget lines since 2001.
Parliament called on the Commission to launch proposals for strengthening the protection of civil liberties, transparency and democratic scrutiny in the context of counter-terrorism policies, such as improving access to documents, for example, though an EU freedom of information law.
The EU must also help the US to find appropriate ways to close the Guantanamo detention facility, MEPs say.
The EPP was very annoyed after the vote, with rapporteur for the opinion Agnes Hankiss berating both the substance of the text and the form it took. The EPP rejects out of hand the premise of the text and of the initial rapporteur, Sophie In't Veld, that counter-terrorism policies infringe individual freedom. The EPP also rejects the idea of speaking about the costs of these policies as their purpose is to save the lives of European citizens. The resolution adopted was littered with propagandist claims with no basis in evidence, Hankiss says in a press release. (SP/transl.rt)