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EU delivers in fight against #terrorism: 6 out of 10 priorities accomplished

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TOPSHOT - A Belgian soldier speaks to a police officer outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small groups of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP / EMMANUEL DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Following the Paris attacks, the EPP Group set out to achieve 10 objectives to fight terrorism and make Europe safer. The European Parliament will vote tomorrow (16 February) on the new EU laws on terrorism and better controls at the external borders of the EU. The legislation will help fight the threat of terrorism in the EU by introducing mechanisms of prevention and the criminalisation of terrorist attempts.

With these two new EU laws, we will have achieved 6 of the 10 objectives.

Referring to the new Directive on combating terrorism, Monika Hohlmeier MEP, European Parliament Rapporteur, said: “Thanks to this EU law, we will not only secure a higher level of safety for citizens, but the EU will also comply with international obligations and standards set by United Nations (UN) resolutions on combating terrorism and the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters. In the EU, we need to clearly classify the planning and financing of terrorist attacks as well as travelling abroad for terrorist purposes as crimes.”

Barbara Kudrycka MEP, the EPP Group Spokeswoman on the EU law on checks at external borders, said: “There are more than 5000 EU citizens currently suspected of having joined the fighting in Iraq and Syria. At least two of the Paris attackers were French citizens who had been trained in Syria. We therefore need this new EU law which will ensure better coordination of Schengen border checks and help detect foreign fighters returning to the EU from war zones to cause havoc in European cities.”

The new EU laws will give EU member states one year to criminalise travelling to third countries with terrorist intentions, being trained for terrorism, financing of recruitment, training, or travelling abroad for terrorism. The laws also lay down provisions for ensuring that victims of terrorist attacks receive proper care and help. Moreover, member states will be obliged to carry out systematic checks of all passengers travelling to and from the Schengen area against databases of lost and stolen documents and to verify that those persons do not represent a threat to public order and internal security.

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