The European Commission has proposed a new set of measures to prevent and counter terrorism. It has outlined how to reinforce Europe’s collective response to evolving terrorist and violent extremist threats.
Over the past decade, the EU has strengthened its response to terrorism and violent extremism. However, the nature of these threats is constantly evolving. The growing misuse of new technologies is reshaping terrorist activity, minors are increasingly targeted and radicalised online, and geopolitical developments further deteriorate the threat landscape. This requires an adapted and stronger response.
The Commission presented a set of initiatives to step up preparedness and response to better protect people and businesses in the EU from harm. It outlined concrete actions under six pillars
- anticipating threats: boosting intelligence analysis at EU level, reinforcing Europol’s analytical support capacities, and strengthening security research on emerging technologies
- preventing radicalisation, including a prevention toolbox and a €5 million community engagement and empowerment programme supporting projects that focus on early prevention of radicalisation
- protecting people online: revising the Terrorist Content Online Regulation and enforcing the Digital Services Act, strengthening voluntary cooperation with online service providers through the EU Internet Forum, and upgrading the EU crisis protocol into an EU online crisis response framework for better cooperation
- protecting people in the physical environment: improving information sharing on terrorism-related alerts, exploring options to expand the framework on advanced travel information, and strengthening the security of public spaces and critical infrastructure by investing €30 million and strengthening the EU protective security advisory programme
- responding to threats and attacks: improving the tracking of terrorist financing, revising Europol and Eurojust’s mandates, and implementing the roadmap on lawful and effective access to data for law enforcement
- cooperating with international partners: strengthening Europol and Eurojust’s external cooperation on counterterrorism and Europol’s cooperation with trusted partners to obtain data on individuals posing a terrorist threat, and cooperation with enlargement partners and partners in the Mediterranean region
A recent EU survey shows that citizens see defence and security as one of the top five challenges. Over two-thirds believe the EU’s role in protecting citizens against global crises and security risks should become more important, according to another survey.
These proposals are part of the ProtectEU European internal security strategy. They were presented together with a proposal on combatting firearms trafficking.
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