Brussels, 29/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission confirmed that it will present a communication in September on radicalisation, essentially but not exclusively with regard to Islamic fundamentalism. The document will be on fundamentalist Imams but also on skinheads, who act as a fuel for each other, Commission sources said. The text, which should be presented after mid-September, will be the Commission's contribution to the strategy that the European Council is to approve in December. Already foreseen, the strategy will take on a new dimension after the attacks in London perpetrated by four young Britons.
The European Commission confirmed this proposal on Friday on the occasion of the presentation, three weeks after the bloody attacks on London, of a press release that looks at the European measures taken and foreseen against terrorism, and already included in the declaration adopted by the internal affairs ministers on 13 July or in the EU action plan against terrorism.
In the press release, the Commission maintains that it will present a proposal in September on the retention of telecom data, while the Council has said that it plans, on this subject, to adopt the framework decision already presented by four Member States. The ministers even pointed out that they intended to do this before October. The Commission was not able to specify, on Friday, whether it will present its rival proposal before or after the informal Justice and Home Affairs meeting on 8-9 September. “Our proposal must at least be discussed”, Commissioner Frattini's spokesperson said. The Commission places emphasis on the “enormous democratic value” of its proposal, to be adopted in co-decision procedure with the European Parliament and would allow infringement proceedings to be initiated in the event of problem, while the Council is working on a text that it alone will adopt. The European Parliament strongly supports the Commission's position.
Twenty-five persons are working within the European Commission on terrorism issues, counting eight persons who are concentrating on this dossier and on areas that affect terrorism among others, such as access to data.