Brussels, 28/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - More than four months after the Paris terrorist attacks which claimed the lives of 17 people, then those in Copenhagen and the Bardo Museum in Tunis in which 2 and 21 people respectively were killed and with close to 5,000 European citizens having gone off to join the self-styled Islamic State (IS), the European Commission set out, in Strasbourg on Tuesday 28 April, a European agenda on security for the period from 2015 to 2020. In this agenda, it looks more to strengthening existing instruments and prevention than to presenting new legislative initiatives.
While putting emphasis on improving information exchange between police and member states' intelligence services, an area in which serious weaknesses were identified in the wake of the terrorist attacks, the Commission also highlights tackling radicalisation and cybercrime.
The new agenda, which is articulated around three priorities - the prevention of terrorism and countering radicalisation, tackling organised crime and addressing cybercrime - and contains seven key actions, was laid out in detail on Tuesday afternoon by Commissioners Frans Timmermans, who has responsibility for fundamental rights, and Dimitris Avramopoulos, who is in charge of home affairs. Most of the actions had, however, been announced in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and are not, therefore, new.
The first is countering radicalisation, the Commission said. Here, it will build on the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), an EU-wide umbrella network launched in 2011, which will become a “Centre of Excellence to collect and disseminate expertise on anti-radicalisation”. This metamorphosis had already been announced by the Commission in January. A further measure, also discussed by justice ministers in January, is updating the framework decision on terrorism to deal with the foreign fighter phenomenon. This will allow for intensified cooperation with third countries.
The Commission also proposes efforts on cutting the financing of criminals, when there already exists a directive on freezing and confiscating the assets of criminal groups. It is proposed that cooperation between competent authorities in Europe (in particular national Financial Intelligence Units, which will be connected to EUROPOL) will be strengthened but, Avramopoulos said, the Commission may bring forward fresh proposals on the financing of terrorism. In January, EU Anti-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove suggested resurrecting the proposed European system for tracking the financing of terrorism, a system very similar to the agreement with the United States on TFTP/SWIFT, but this was not taken up by ministers.
Encryption. A further key action announced by the Commission is enhancing cooperation with the IT sector. Controversy raged in January over the desire of governments to force internet companies to hand over their encryption keys, but the Commission contents itself with proposing “an EU Forum with major IT companies to counter terrorist propaganda on the internet and in social media and to explore ways to address the concerns of law enforcement authorities on new encryption technologies”. The Commission, as it had said in January, will also review the current framework on firearms, focusing attention on illegal trafficking and reactivation of weapons. Lastly, on cybercrime, “the priority is to identify ways to overcome obstacles to criminal investigations online, notably on issues of competent jurisdiction and rules on access to internet-based evidence and information”.
Without its becoming a “European FBI”, the capacities of Europol must be enhanced, as Timmermans has already said. The police cooperation agency will be strengthened by the creation of a European Counter Terrorist Centre (EC3, which was launched in 2013, will form the basis) “which will help the EU Agency to step up support for national law enforcement authorities' actions to tackle foreign terrorist fighters, terrorist financing, violent extremist content online, and illicit trafficking of firearms”, the Commission says, though for the moment it has given no indication of any increased funding. Avramopoulos said, however, that he personally would like Europol ultimately to become a “federal institution”.
More concretely, the Commission set out how it planned to help member states exchange information, particularly on suspects. It will “work on the introduction of additional categories to trigger alerts and will promote the use of the SIS (Schengen Information System) together with Interpol's database on Stolen and Lost Travel Documents”, it says. The European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) will be extended to capture and share data on non-EU nationals convicted in the EU. The Commission also promises to encourage the most effective use possible of the European internal security fund and reinforce the ability of the European police college (CEPOL) to prepare police officers to cooperate effectively.
Nothing new on PNR data. Unsurprisingly, the Commission's new agenda does not re-visit the proposed European PNR directive which is once again under discussion in the European Parliament with the report by Timothy Kirkhope (ECR, UK). But neither did the Commission present its common approach on future PNR data requests put to it by third countries. Hitherto, Mexico, Australia, Canada and the United States have sought such agreements with the EU, which has always made its decision on a case-by-case basis.
Avramopoulos said that the communication on a “coherent approach” on PNR agreements with non-EU countries would be presented once the European Court of Justice has delivered its opinion, expected before the end of this year, on the EU-Canada PNR. In November, MEPs sought the view of the Court on the legality of this agreement and, in general, on all international data transfer agreements.
Short of any particularly new or controversial content, the Commission's new agenda did not arouse great reaction in Strasbourg but managed to disappoint some groups, such as the Greens and the S&D, which felt it too focused on security. The Greens/EFA Group also criticised an agenda which placed too great an emphasis on mass surveillance and data gathering on a massive scale. The S&D slammed the weakness on the social aspects of radicalisation and proposals that are a bit too vague, and also regretted the Greek commissioner's linking, in his presentation to MEPs, of the security agenda and the migration agenda, expected on 13 May, which will deal with border management and the trafficking of migrants. German Socialist Birgit Sippel suggested that it was not perhaps very clever to speak about migrants as if they were criminals. (Solenn Paulic)