On Wednesday 24 January, the European Commission published its report on progress made in 2017 in setting up a Union of security. The report, about ten pages long, sets out European actions conducted in several priority areas such as radicalisation, cyber-security, information exchange, terrorist funding, research, air safety and the external dimension.
“This comprehensive approach is bringing results, but we need to keep the momentum going”, said Julian King, EU commissioner responsible for the Union of security, in a communiqué. His counterpart for home affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos, took the view: “Fighting terrorist propaganda online remains an area where there is a clear urgency to act”.
The Commission trusts that the online platforms will double their efforts to do away with terrorist content as quickly as possible. It currently plans more specific measures to improve retaliation to this kind of content, before deciding whether it is necessary to legislate, the report explains. “The Commission will act if needed and all options remain on the table”, added Avramopoulos. Furthermore, the Commission is working on new ways to monitor progress using specific indicators.
When it comes to cyber-security, the Commission is continuing implementation of its strategy adopted in September 2017 by setting in place a network of centres with competency in cyber-security and a European centre for research and cyber-security proficiency. The creation of that network will be supported by a pilot project amounting of €50 million, conducted within the context of the Horizon 2020 programme during the first quarter of 2018 (see EUROPE 11945).
The Commission will also grant an additional €5 million to strengthen Europol’s decoding capability, in order to support law enforcement services in criminal investigations.
As far as the protection of public areas is concerned, the Commission believes that cooperation has intensified between, on one hand, private operators (transport platforms, stadiums, shopping centres) and the local and regional authorities. By the end of the month, it plans to publish a toolbox on security to provide advice to European transporters and hauliers who could have to face terrorist threats. Such an instrument should be rapidly completed by an online portal where all actors concerned may share best practices.
Finally, on the subject of the interoperability of information exchange systems, the European Commission is pressing co-legislative institutions to reach an agreement in the coming weeks on two key issues: the European travel information and authorisation system (ETIAS) (see EUROPE 11943) and proposals aimed at strengthening the Schengen Information System (SIS) (see EUROPE 11924).
The report is available at: http://bit.ly/2Dyouc7 . (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)