P6_TA(2005)0219

EU action plan against terrorism

European Parliament recommendation to the European Council and the Council on the EU anti-terrorism Action Plan (2004/2214(INI))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the proposal for a recommendation to the Council submitted by Antoine Duquesne on behalf of the ALDE Group on the revised EU anti-terrorism Action Plan/Work Programme (B6-0071/2004),

- having regard to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, and in particular Articles I-3, I-2, I-9, II-62, II-63, II-64, II-67, II-82, II-107, II-108, II-109, II-110, III-257, III-261, III-271, III-272, III-273, III 274, III-275 and III-276,

- having regard to Articles 6 and 7 and Title V of the Treaty on European Union,

- having regard to Title VI of the Treaty on European Union and in particular Articles 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 39 and 42,

- having regard to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, as amended by Protocol No. 11 and in particular Articles 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10,

- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed on 10 December 1948 and in particular Articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 12, 13 and 19,

- having regard to the twelve UN anti-terrorism Conventions,

- having regard to the Statute of Rome of the International Criminal Court adopted on 17 July 1998 by the UN Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries,

- having regard to the action plan to combat terrorism adopted by the extraordinary European Council in Brussels on 21 September 2001,

- having regard to the declarations of the informal meeting of Heads of State and Government in Ghent on 19 October 2001,

- having regard to the conclusions of the European Council in Laeken on 14 and 15 December 2001,

- having regard to the Council Decision 2002/187/JHA of 28 February 2002 setting up Eurojust with a view to reinforcing the fight against serious crime [1],

- having regard to Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States [2],

- having regard to Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA of 13 June 2002 on combating terrorism [3],

- having regard to Council Framework Decision 2002/465/JHA of 13 June 2002 on joint investigation teams [4],

- having regard to Council Framework Decision 2003/577/JHA of 22 July 2003 on the execution in the European Union of orders freezing property or evidence [5],

- having regard to the conclusions of the European Council in Brussels on 25 and 26 March 2004,

- having regard to the conclusions of the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, organised by the Club of Madrid and held in the Spanish capital from 8 to 11 March 2005,

- having regard to the declaration of the European Council of 25 March 2004 on combating terrorism,

- having regard to the conclusions of the European Council in Brussels on 17 and 18 June 2004,

- having regard to the revised EU anti-terrorism Action Plan/Roadmap adopted by the European Council at its meeting of 17 and 18 June 2004,

- having regard to the conclusions of the European Council in Brussels on 4 and 5 November 2004,

- having regard to the Hague Programme strengthening freedom, security and justice in the European Union [6], adopted by the European Council in Brussels on 4 and 5 November 2004,

- having regard to the conclusions of the European Council in Brussels on 16 and 17 December 2004,

- having regard to Rule 114(3) and Rule 94 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A6-0164/2005),

A. whereas human rights are non-negotiable, indivisible and non-transferable, and the most important task of democracy is to protect the freedom and the fundamental rights of the citizens, and whereas in the interests of the fight against terrorism, no legislation should be drawn up which may have consequences running counter to that objective,

B. whereas effective protection and promotion of fundamental rights is the backbone of democracy in Europe and is an essential precondition to the establishment of the EU anti-terrorism Action Plan,

C. whereas terrorism, on the other hand, attacks fundamental freedoms, leads to harmful polarisation and seeks to destroy democracy itself by violent means, creating a climate destroying people's right to live in peace and freedom,

D. whereas terrorist acts, in whatever form, are essentially a direct attack on citizens' rights and freedoms, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and on democracy and the rule of law,

E. whereas terrorism is one of the most serious threats to democracy and one of the main problems facing European citizens, and whereas it seriously undermines the freedoms protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

F. whereas the threat of terrorism today is not limited to specific geographical areas, as terrorist organisations can use crossborder networks to carry out their acts of violence and terror, networks which are capable of having devastating effects in different countries at the same time,

G. whereas no Member State can fight terrorism by itself, and a joint interoperational anti-terrorism policy is needed,

H. whereas the fight against terrorism requires the use of all the instruments of the rule of law and of the European Union,

I. whereas the EU's internal and external security policies should be complementary and coherent, and this should be reflected in the functioning of its institutions,

J. whereas the best way of fighting terrorism and combating extremism and intolerance is to promote human rights; whereas action needs to be taken against violence as a method of resolving political, economic, social or any other conflicts must be condemned, and educational actions must be promoted in favour of non-violence,

K. whereas the fact that different forms of terrorism coexist in Europe and throughout the world makes it essential for specific measures to be taken to combat each form effectively,

L. whereas Europe promotes democratic principles and values, and a dynamic civil society fulfils a strategic role when it comes to countering extremist ideologies and fostering solidarity and respect for cultural diversity,

M. whereas the anti-terrorist policy pursued by the Spanish Government in collaboration with the French Government is an example of effective cooperation in this area;

N. whereas it is necessary to implement measures for combating terrorism, notably through the promotion of new initiatives for peacemaking and mediation in societies which are marked by conflicts and division, by adopting long-term trade, aid and investment policies that advance the fight against poverty and help strengthen democratic institutions and transparency at national and at global level through initiatives which may contribute to these goals,

O. whereas only democracy and absolute respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms can guarantee an effective European response in the fight against terrorism,

P. whereas the murders, torture, persecution, kidnappings and threats perpetrated by terrorists are human actions so base and reprehensible that they can in no way be justified; whereas the exclusion of their acts from any moral, causal or political consideration is a necessary means of defeating them, although this will not preclude consideration of and action regarding the context and the environment which may drive people to become terrorists,

Q. whereas the EU has already demonstrated its solidarity with the victims of terrorism, above all through:

- the Declaration of 25 March 2004 in which the European Council declared 11 March to be the European day of the victims of terrorism;

- the adoption of Council Directive 2004/80/EC of 29 April 2004 relating to compensation to crime victims [7], including those who are the victims of terrorist acts;

- the establishment in 2004 of a pilot programme to fund projects for psychological, medical and social assistance to victims of terrorism and their families;

and whereas these measures should be extended and updated,

R. whereas the victims of terrorism are a reference for democracy and whereas the public authorities should heed their voice and ensure that they are taken into account in the places where decisions are made to combat those who have made them unwilling protagonists,

S. whereas the European Parliament, as representative of the peoples of the European Union, publicly and transparently reviews the effectiveness of EU measures to combat terrorism and, in this context, will seek enhanced dialogue with the national parliaments,

1. Addresses the following recommendations to the European Council and the Council for the implementation of the abovementioned revised EU Action Plan/Roadmap to combat the terrorist threat:

a) create a European unit responsible for assisting the victims of terrorism under the direct authority and responsibility of the European Anti-Terrorism Coordinator; this unit will be a reference point for European policy in this field and its purpose will be to take in, listen to, inform and assist victims and to promote implementation of the measures which are necessary if it is to operate successfully; each year the Commission and the European Anti-Terrorism Coordinator will provide the European Parliament with a report on their activities; Parliament will assess that report and, where appropriate, suggest any action which it thinks should be taken;

b) enlist the support of the EU and Member States, within the framework of the UN, for the moves under way to adopt a global definition of terrorism and to reach as swift an agreement as possible on the Global Convention on International Terrorism; at the same time, terrorist crimes in the Member States should not be time-barred, thereby reflecting the reprobation of the international community, which considers them to be some of the most serious and inadmissible crimes against humanity;

c) promote, in accordance with the spirit of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, cooperation between national authorities, public prosecutors and Eurojust in order to investigate, pursue and sentence all perpetrators of serious cross-border crimes, particularly the crime of terrorism, and their accomplices, and that the legal conditions be established to enable a European Public Prosecutor's Office to be set up to pursue those objectives;

d) promote the transformation of Europol into a EU body under the democratic control of the European Parliament and the Council and under the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice, and create, to this end, a common legal basis for the work of Europol prior to the entry into force of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe;

e) give priority to strengthening the means for exchanging preventive information by the intelligence services of Member States among themselves and with Europol without ever contravening the principles of data protection; foster mechanisms for cooperation and information exchange between Europol and Eurojust, with the arrangements for cooperation between the two to be specified;

f) adopt a decision, proposed by the Commission, to provide for the transfer of the European anti-terrorist coordinator to the Commission, and also for effective parliamentary control of the European coordinator's activities;

g) require the Commission to monitor the transposition into national law and the complete and faithful implementation of all anti-terrorist legal instruments adopted by the EU, and periodically to draw up a list of Member States which have not yet incorporated such measures into national law;

h) make, by the end of 2005, a detailed assessment be made, in consultation with the European Parliament, of the implementation of the revised anti-terrorism Action Plan/Roadmap, in order to ascertain its effectiveness and the extent to which it has been followed, with the dual aim of safeguarding collective security and individual freedom; this assessment should take account of the effectiveness and proportionality of the measures adopted, and of any new developments, and should be carried out every year;

i) conduct a study into the design and implementation of new legal instruments with a view to more effective pursuit of the collection and distribution of sources of finance for terrorist activities processed on the margins of legally established financial bodies;

j) require all the Member States to sign and ratify the 12 existing international anti-terrorist conventions; adopt the eight special recommendations produced by the OECD to combat the financing of terrorism; and require all third countries with which the EU maintains relations to do the same;

k) request the Commission to identify and study best practice in the Member States and third countries in the area of anti-terrorist policies and the prevention of radicalisation, which could form the basis for the Commission's strategy;

l) develop educational programmes with the media with a view to:

- condemning all forms of violence, especially terrorism;

- combating environments which foster and are a breeding ground for racial, religious or ideological hatred;

m) urge the Member States, in compliance with the spirit of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe and with Article 42 of the EU Treaty, to adopt a decision to ensure that acts under Article 29 of the EU Treaty to combat terrorism and crossborder crime be included in Title IV of the Treaty establishing the European Community and be subject to codecision with the European Parliament and qualified majority voting in Council, under the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice;

n) recognise the fight against terrorism as a priority of the Union and a key part of its external action under the European Security Strategy, and recognise terrorism as a threat to democracy, the rule of law, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Charter;

o) make this internal and external priority absolutely clear in all dealings with third countries;

p) take account of the diverse nature of terrorism, the organisations involved in it and the states and non-state actors that sponsor, finance and practise it for their own purposes; the fact that terrorism is an emerging and unpredictable phenomenon with its own specific sense of time and the urgent need for the Union to develop a proactive – rather than just reactive – policy to combat it;

q) adopt the basic tenet that no action against terrorism sponsored or practised by non-state actors externally can be truly effective if it is not backed up by real conviction and determination within the Union and supported by a well-informed general public;

r) adopt specific measures to combat all terrorist organisations, taking into account the fact that each has its own objectives, organisational structure and modus operandi;

2. Instructs its President to forward this recommendation to the European Council and the Council and, for information, to the Commission, the governments and national Parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, and the UN and its specialised agencies.

[1] OJ L 63, 6.3.2002, p. 1.

[2] OJ L 190, 18.7.2002, p. 1.

[3] OJ L 164, 22.6.2002, p. 3.

[4] OJ L 162, 20.6.2002, p. 1.

[5] OJ L 196, 2.8.2003, p. 45.

[6] OJ C 53, 3.3.2005, p. 1.

[7] OJ L 261, 6.8.2004, p. 15.

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