Brussels, 20/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 19 October, MEPs at the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee adopted the report by Rachida Dati (EPP) on the prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism.
In their resolution, they called for the immediate removal of “illegal content broadcasting violent extremism on the Internet”, whilst fully taking into account fundamental rights and the freedom of expression. MEPs also called on the member states to examine ways of discouraging the recruitment of EU citizens as “foreign combatants” and to step up legal cooperation.
The report adopted also highlights a raft of measures that need to be considered in relation to foreign, social and education policy, as well as the application of the law and justice. The report also places an emphasis on preventive rather than reactive measures, as well as respect for fundamental rights.
The resolution highlights the need for a common definition of “foreign combatants” so that legal procedures can be taken against them. It calls on EU member states to share good practices in the field of controlling the exit and return of the frozen financial assets of citizens, in an effort to prevent them taking part in terrorist activities in conflict zones in non-EU countries. It also emphasises that member states should be able to confiscate passports, at the request of the appropriate legal authority, in order to prevent the holder joining a terrorist organisation, which has already been done in a number of member states.
These measures should be taken in parallel to proactive policies to promote de-radicalisation and integration. MEPs are also calling on member states to “improve the use of tools such as the Schengen Information System, in an effort to step up information exchanges between the bodies in charge of applying the law in member states, as well as EU agencies such as Europol, Eurojust and CEPOL (police training)”. They said that this would “help to follow terror suspects when they leave the EU or when they return to it”.
MEPs asserted that in the context of recruitment on the Internet, “Internet companies and service providers have a legal responsibility to cooperate with member state authorities in removing all illegal content promoting violent extremism. This should be done swiftly but in compliance with the primacy of the law and fundamental rights, particularly the freedom of expression”. The LIBE Committee believes that governments should “look at ways of taking legal action, including criminal proceedings against Internet companies that refuse to comply with a request to remove illegal content. If a company refuses to cooperate and subsequently allows illegal content to circulate, this could be considered as an act of complicity equivalent to the intent to commit a crime”.
The report was adopted by 41 votes in favour, 7 against, with 6 abstentions. The GUE/NGL voted against and was particularly opposed to any strengthening of the European agencies' role. Rachida Dati regretted that “at this stage there is a lack of consensus on taking bold measures such as the imposition of systematic and compulsory external European Union border controls or the use of Internet referencing that would help promote a counter discourse online”. The report will be put to a vote at the end of November in the plenary session. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)