On Tuesday 7 March, the Council of the EU ratified the directive for fighting terrorism. This particularly focuses on the criminalisation throughout the EU of assistance provided during the preparation of acts of terrorism.
The European Parliament adopted its opinion on 16 February (see EUROPE 11727). The new directive presented at the end of 2015 seeks to tackle increasing threats from “foreign fighters” who travel to conflict zones for terrorist purposes and “lone wolves” who plan attacks on their own.
The extended list of preparatory acts that will be criminalised includes: travelling abroad to join a terrorist group and/or return to EU territory with the goal of perpetrating a terrorist attack; recruiting for terrorist purposes; training or being trained for terrorist purposes; being complicit in or attempting to commit an attack; publicly inciting attacks to be committed or being an apologist for terrorism; funding terrorism or terrorist groups.
The new directive also contains provisions to guarantee immediate assistance to victims and their families after an attack. The directive will be signed by the Maltese Presidency and Parliament 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal. The member states will have 18 months to transpose it into national law. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)