On Thursday 22 June, the heads of state or government of the European Union reiterated their commitment to fighting the threat of terrorism and, in particular, radicalisation on social networks.
The text of the conclusions states that "the European Council strongly condemns the recent terrorist attacks and stands united and firm in the fight against terrorism, hatred and violent extremism". The text adds that "these acts have strengthened our resolve to cooperate at EU level so as to enhance our internal security: we will fight the spread of radicalisation online, coordinate our work on preventing and countering violent extremism".
With the internet industry having "its own responsibility to help combat terrorism and crime online", the European Council expects industry to create an "Industry Forum", along the lines of the EU Internet Forum, and to develop "new technology and tools to improve the automatic detection and removal of content that incites to terrorist acts". This initiative should be complemented by the relevant legislative measures at EU level, if necessary, the Council states.
The 28 EU member states are also calling "for addressing the challenges posed by systems that allow terrorists to communicate in ways that competent authorities cannot access, including end-to-end encryption". The Council conclusions nevertheless emphasise safeguarding the benefits these systems bring "for the protection of privacy".
The European Council still considers that effective access to electronic evidence "is essential to combating serious crime and terrorism and that, subject to appropriate safeguards, the availability of data should be secured".
British Prime Minister Theresa May has made the fight against terrorism, and especially against online radicalisation, a priority for this summit, and had has asked the EU to do more on this subject. At the end of the first working session, French President Emmanuel Macron hailed "ambitious conclusions", which reiterate the "need for cooperation between the member states". Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined that regarding "the propaganda of Islamic State, which is spreading very fast, it is important to remove these messages as quickly as possible after they appear". (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with the editorial staff)