Special Committee on Terrorism calls for EU cooperation

The European Special Committee on Terrorism has adopted its final report, which sets out a range of measures Member States should take to combat terrorism cooperatively.

The Special Committee on Terrorism called for Europol to become a “hub” for international collaboration and exchange of information on counterterrorist measures and potential threats. Their report expounded on the gaps in current EU counterterrorism activities and recommended a set of measures which could address these deficiencies.

The recommendations from the Special Committee on Terrorism are intended to:

• Prevent radicalisation;
• Impede the financing of terrorist activities;
• Shore up cooperation between Member States’ judicial systems;
• Promote the free exchange of information between Member States;
• Strengthen external borders; and
• Address the functional needs and human rights of victims of terrorism.

The Special Committee on Terrorism further recommended the implementation by the next President of the European Commission of a self-standing portfolio for the European Commissioner for the Security Union. They emphasised the need for Member States to share information swiftly and promptly in the event of a change to national threat levels.

The report, which will now be passed to the plenary session of the European Parliament for definitive adoption next month, marks the end of the Special Committee on Terrorism’s mandate. The committee was formed in 2017 in response to a marked increase in terrorist attacks across the EU; and was charged with assessing the extent of the threat posed by terrorism to EU Member States.

The Special Committee on Terrorism has examined and assessed data provided by law enforcement authorities in each Member State, EU agencies and experts in the field of counterterrorism in order to formulate its report. The committee assessed in full the extent and scope of existing antiterrorism forces currently on the ground within the union, with the goal of augmenting Member States’ capability to “prevent, investigate and prosecute” terrorism.