Brussels, 05/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - EU Security Commissioner Franco Frattini will be unveiling new anti-terror measures on Tuesday 6 November. One of the key suggestions is that public provocation to commit terrorist offences should be outlawed throughout the EU. Another proposal to be unveiled is that all EU27 member states' should have an air passenger information storage system which their security services would be able to access. The Commissioner will also be unveiling measure to increase the traceability of explosives in the EU, like an early warning system for explosives stolen in a member state. Given the fact that the measures mainly cover the police and legal systems, agreement by all the EU member states will be required before they can be adopted.
Punishing 'public provocation to commit a terrorist offence'. The Commission wants public provocation to commit a terrorist offence 'to be punishable, also when committed through the internet, throughout the EU'. To this end, the Commission suggests amending the Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on combatting terrorism, which is 'intended to harmonise national provisions on public provocation to commit a terrorist offence, recruitment for terrorism and training for terrorism, so that these forms of behaviour are punishable'. The suggested legislation would harmonise minimum penalties for using the internet to promote terrorism. 'Individuals disseminating terrorist propaganda and bomb-making expertise through the internet' would therefore 'be prosecuted and sentenced to prison insofar as such dissemination amounts to public provocation to commit terrorist offences, recruiting for terrorism or training for terrorism and is committed intentionally'. The Commissioner believes the internet is one of the main vectors for radicalising and recruiting terror activists, and also sees it as a source of information for terrorists wanting to make home-made bombs, for example. The competent authorities in the member states would have the option of demanding that internet service providers remove such information from the web.
Removing air passenger anonymity when flying in and out of EU. Commissioner Frattini will also suggest the introduction of a storage system for air passenger personal information, called the 'European PNR', to fight terrorism and organised crime. Only three member states at present (Denmark, France and the United Kingdom) have laws allowing such PNR to be collected and used, with huge differences in how their national systems operate. The European PNR system would only cover flights entering or leaving the EU, not flights within the EU. Since 2003, the United States has been demanding transfers of PNR (Passenger Name Records) from airlines for use by the US security forces. PNR covers information like travellers' addresses, telephone numbers, credit card details and travel plans (see EUROPE 9478). A similar agreement has been struck between the EU and Canada. Other countries are reported to have shown interest in the signing of such agreements with the EU (see EUROPE 9534 and 9536). In the draft Council Framework Decision, airlines will have to supply 19 different categories of information supplied by passengers when buying tickets. Each member state would have to set up a Passenger Information Unit (PIU) to carry out a risk assessment of passengers. This would therefore not be an EU database but rather, the draft Framework Directive specifies, a list of risk indicators to assess passenger risk, provide information about terrorist methods and be used as a basis for crime investigations. The PIUs would share the outcome of their research with other PIUs and keep the information for five years in an active database, followed by what is described as a 'dormant' period of 8 more years, when access to the data would only be allowed in 'exceptional circumstances'. The data would have to be destroyed at the end of this 13-year period but it would be possible to keep the information for longer if it proves useful for a criminal investigation or an intelligence operation. EU airlines would be required to push the data using a system banning not only automatic access to European air passenger PNR without requesting permission from the member states in advance, but also the use of such PNR without security guarantees. Foreign airlines would be given an option to pull PNR, which would give the member states immediate access to the PNR. The Commission stresses the importance of balancing public security requirements with the protection of fundamental rights. The draft framework decision on the use of passenger name records (PNR) for law enforcement purposes is still under discussion. In the long-term, it is expected to ensure the protection of PNR both within the EU and when PNR is transmitted to the United States by EU member states.
Limiting the impact of terrorism through better controls on explosives. Lastly, the Commission is to propose an action plan to reinforce measures already adopted in 2005, aiming to ensure greater security and safety over explosives and materials which can be used to make bombs and firearms (EUROPE 8994). The action plan provides for 47 specific actions. Some of them will be a priority, such as: 1) An early-warning system on explosives (EWS), which will link the public security authorities of the member states and Europol and provide alerts on immediate threats, thefts of explosives, detonators and precursors (materials which can be used to produce explosives), suspicious transactions and the discovery of new modus operandi. The EWS may be developed on the basis of the system already in place between the G6 states; - 2) A European system of data on bombs (European Bomb Data System), created by Europol and allowing the competent authorities permanent access to all information on incidents involving explosives (photographs, films, descriptions, defusing methods, etc); - 3) The European Explosive Ordnance Disposal Network (EOD Network), linking the EOD units of the member states, to promote cooperation and the exchange of information; - 4) A standing committee of precursor experts; - 5) A working group on detection. (B.C.)