EU to step up efforts to tackle terrorism propaganda

Background

The EU Counter-terrorism Strategy which was comprehensively developed after the train bombings in Madrid in 2004, which killed 191 people, and the London bombings in July 2005, during which 56 people died including four suicide attackers.

The strategy is based on the four 'pillars' of prevention, protection, pursuit and response. It requires collaboration at national, European and international levels to reduce the threat of terrorism and the bloc's vulnerability to attack. It specifically aims to: 

• prevent recruitment of terrorists; 
• better protect potential targets; 
• pursue and investigate members of existing networks, and; 
• improve Europe's capability to respond to and manage the consequences of terrorist attacks. 

On 19 September 2007, Belgian lawyer Gilles de Kerchove was appointed to the brand new function of 'EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator'. In this role, he coordinates the work of the Council of the EU in the field of counter-terrorism and maintains an overview of all the instruments at the Union's disposal. 

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New measures in the pipeline will allow easy persecutions not only of the perpetrators and planners of attacks, but also of those who indirectly support terrorism through a variety of means, such as disseminating bomb-making recipes on the Internet.

"The overall number of attacks have fortunately decreased. But terrorism methods and propaganda is changing and we need to tackle that in an intelligent way," EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said at a conference in Brussels earlier this week.

A new set of measures will be proposed, especially to address the proliferation of terrorism activities on the Internet. The Commission announced that in 2011 a new communication on countering radicalisation and recruitment will be published.

Internet service providers and private companies operating on the Web will likely be increasingly required to collaborate in the fight against terror.

"We need to look in the future at the risks of Internet propaganda. Public-private partnerships are increasing as member states are concerned about that," Malmström said, taking stock of measures currently in place.

The tougher line on Internet-based propaganda and radicalisation activities stems from an EU Framework Decision on combating terrorism, which was adopted in November 2008.

The document clearly states that "the Internet is used to inspire and mobilise local terrorist networks and individuals in Europe and also serves as a source of information on terrorist means and methods, thus functioning as a virtual training camp".

"Activities of public provocation to commit terrorist offences, recruitment for terrorism and training for terrorism have multiplied at very low cost and risk," stressed the document.

All EU member states are required to implement by the end of the year the bloc's revised anti-terror strategy, which makes life harder for those disseminating terrorism propaganda, but also for terrorism recruiters and terrorism trainers.

Indeed, the EU decision addresses "public provocation to commit terrorist offences," which is described as "the distribution, or otherwise making available, of a message to the public with the intent to incite the commission" of terrorism activities.

It also considers terrorism training as the provision of "instruction in the making or use of explosives, firearms or other weapons or noxious or hazardous substances" for the purpose of committing a terrorism-related offence.

By December 2010, all member states have to make these activities "punishable," according to the EU decision.

Many observers have raised concerns regarding the risk to freedom of expression in Europe as a consequence of the entry into force of such legislation.

As a result, the text underlines that "nothing in this Framework Decision may be interpreted as being intended to reduce or restrict the dissemination of information for scientific, academic or reporting purposes".

"The expression of radical, polemic or controversial views in the public debate on sensitive political questions, including terrorism, falls outside the scope of this Framework Decision and, in particular, of the definition of public provocation to commit terrorist offences," the document concludes.

A long list of instruments to counter terrorism

Commissioner Malmström published for the first time a list of the instruments that are currently in place to share information and counter terrorism and criminality in the EU on a cross-border level. These include the Schengen Information System (SIS), Eurodac (for cooperation on asylum applications), the Prum agreement on exchanging DNA profiles and fingerprints, and many others.

The commissioner insisted that current and future instruments will be regularly subject to reviews, which will pay higher attention to data protection.

But, while work on prevention seems to be proceeding at a speedy pace, much more needs to be done on other elements of the four-point EU anti-terrorism strategy (see 'Background').

Brussels has still to transform into a reality the solidarity clause, included in the Lisbon Treaty and meant to favour mutual support in the event of a major attack and other such disaster. However, the clause "remains only a concept," Commissioner Malmström acknowledged.

The idea of a security fund to better channel EU funding to combat terrorism still remains at the level of wishful thinking. "There is money for security, but it is very diverse and not focused. We have to look into this in more detail," admitted Malmström, conceding that the idea of a security fund is still "premature".

For the period 2007-2013, the EU has a budget of €745 million to support action against terrorism and organised crime.

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