EU proposes new anti-terrorism measures

07/11/2007

The EU proposed on Tuesday a package of measures that would lead to the collection of information about air passengers and would criminalise the use of the internet to incite or recruit terrorists.

(The Guardian - 07/11/07; AFP, Reuters, DPA, FT, BBC, Euobserver, European Commission - 06/11/07)

"The right to security is in itself a fundamental right, because it is first of all a right to life," European Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini said. [Getty Images]

EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini announced on Tuesday (November 6th) a new package of proposals aimed at strengthening the 27-nation bloc's capabilities to fight terrorism.

"Terrorists will strike whenever, wherever and with whatever means to make the most impact," Frattini, who also serves as European Commission (EC) vice-president, told reporters in Brussels as he unveiled the plan.

"We cannot be complacent, we have to continue striking the right balance between being aware of the threat and taking adequate and proportionate measures, both at the European and national level, to prevent it," Frattini added.

To illustrate the threat, Frattini told reporters that in 2006, terrorist groups targeted 11 EU countries in 80 plots. He added that more than 300 terrorist cells are under investigation.

To equip law enforcement agencies with adequate tools, the EC's proposal would criminalise the use of the internet for terrorism training, recruitment and incitement.

The package, which needs to be endorsed by all member nations to enter into force, includes a list of 47 recommended action points. Among others, the measures would provide for the establishment of rapid alert systems on lost and stolen explosives and suspicious transactions, the development of an explosive forensics capability in Europol, and plans to vet industry personnel.

"The monitoring of travel is one of the points of weakness in our strategy to counter terrorism. Yet, terrorists travel before and after they commit terrorist attacks," Frattini said.

To address this issue, the EC package proposes that air carriers make available Passenger Name Records (PNR) data for flights coming to or leaving the EU. The data would be useful to authorities involved in risk assessment, law enforcement and to counterterrorism missions.

EU states would be required to collect 19 pieces of PNR information, such as name, passport and phone numbers, e-mail address and payment details. They would also be obliged to keep the data on file for up to 13 years and share it with other member nations.

Despite the EC's assurances that the proposed system would only be used to identify potential terrorists and would not include information such as race, religion or meal preference, members of various European Parliament (EP) political groups voiced their concerns.

"It is incoherent to propose a European-level decision on data storage, while leaving the issues of data protection and how the data should be processed fully to national legislators," said a spokesperson for the EP's Greens/European Free Alliance.

"If the law enforcement authorities of the member states are informed that a travel agency or some credit card numbers have in the past been associated with terrorist attacks or plots, shouldn't that information be shared?"

Frattini responded, "Yes, I think it should."

"Our goal remains preserving the right balance between the fundamental right to security of citizens, the right to life and the other fundamental rights of individuals, including privacy and procedural rights," he said.