On Monday 5 December, the European Parliament's civil liberties committee (LIBE) approved – by 37 votes in favour, 4 against and 7 abstentions – the compromise found with the Slovak Presidency of the EU Council on 17 November on the counter-terrorism directive (EUROPE 11672). The MEPs backed this draft directive, which among other things aims to punish, throughout the EU, assistance in the preparation of acts of terrorism.
This directive is aimed at preventing attacks by criminalising training for acts of terrorism, travel for the purpose of training or assistance in the preparation of travel. It also strengthens the rights and support for victims, the Council assured on Monday.
The text, which updates framework decision 2002/475/JHA, provides for people who travel to conflict zones to participate in the activities of a terrorist group there or who travel to an EU member state with the goal of committing an act of terrorism to face criminal prosecution. The same will go for organising and facilitating these trips, through material or logistic support, by buying travel tickets, for example, or by choosing the itinerary.
The legislators furthermore agreed to criminalise receiving training for terrorist purposes, like the fabrication of explosives, the use of firearms, or of harmful or dangerous substances. The directive also covers providing or collecting funds with the intention or knowledge of their use to commit terrorist offences and offences linked to terrorist groups or terrorist activities.
In addition, the directive aims to complement the current legislation on the rights of victims of terrorism. The Council states that in this regard, the compromise text includes a range of services responding to the specific needs of victims of terrorism, such as the right to have immediate access to professional support services offering medical and psycho-social treatment, or to receive legal or practical advice, as well as help for compensation claims.
The directive also provides for strengthened rules on the exchange of information between the member states in the course of criminal proceedings as regards the terrorist offences carried out.
Several associations opposed the directive on 30 November, which they accuse of infringing fundamental freedoms. Amnesty International, ENAR (the European Network Against Racism) and the European association for digital rights considered that the language used in the directive would also allow activities to be criminalised such as demonstrations or the expression of dissenting political views, the NGOs stated in a press release. Moreover, the NGOs fear that the directive targets, and discriminates against, certain ethnic and religious groups of the population.
These criticisms are exaggerated, a European source commented on 2 December. The compromise which has been tabled no longer calls for internet providers to carry out general filtering of content – nor does it hold them responsible for radical content. There has been a step backwards on these aspects, the same source stated, believing the NGOs' reaction to be disproportionate. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)