Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist attacks
Date: 2004-10-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU police cooperation, common foreign and security policy, common security and defence policy, cooperation policy, exchange of information, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, public safety, terrorism

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 20.10.2004 
COM(2004) 698 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

Prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist attacks 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

3.5. 

3.6. 

3.7. 

3.8. 

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 3 

CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM................................ 3 

Defending fundamental rights against violent radicalisation....................................... 4 

Public-Private Security Dialogue................................................................................. 4 

Victims of terrorism ..................................................................................................... 4 

Making 11 March a day of civic and democratic debate on securing freedom ........... 4 

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS 
AND RESPONSE TO TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE COMMUNITY SPHERE 5 

Community policies in the fight against terrorism....................................................... 5 

External cooperation .................................................................................................... 6 

Integrating European and national systems.................................................................. 6 

Authorities communicating with the public................................................................. 7 

Linking-up with the law enforcement community....................................................... 7 

The security research priority....................................................................................... 8 

The role of the private sector ....................................................................................... 9 

Explosives .................................................................................................................... 9 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

In the wake of the terrorist outrage which struck Madrid and the European Union as a whole 
on  11  March,  the  European  Council  agreed1  a  set  of  strategic  objectives  which,  since  then, 
have directed the Union’s fight against terrorism.  

At its meeting of 18 June 20042 the European Council endorsed the revised EU Plan of Action 
on Combating Terrorism. The effective prevention, preparedness and response of the Union 
to  terrorist  attacks  are  overarching  objectives  reflected  in  many  wide  ranging  measures  and 
actions  identified  in  the  Plan  of  Action,  to  which  the  Commission  made  a  decisive 
contribution3.  At  this  meeting,  the  European  Council  identified  a  number  of  priority  issues 
which should be addressed before the end of 2004: prevention and consequential management 
of terrorist attacks, protection of critical infrastructures and finance of terrorism.  

This  Communication,  and  the  three  individual  Communications  simultaneously  adopted  by 
the Commission4 on each of the areas referred to, respond to these requests of the European 
council  and  aim  to  contribute  towards  the  preparation,  with  the  Council,  of  the  European 
Council meeting of 17 December 2004.  

2. 

CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM 

The  rights  to  life,  freedom  and  security5  are  among  the  most  cherished  –  if  not  the  most 
important - human rights6. Terrorism threatens them all. The preservation of those rights is a 
fundamental task requiring in our democracies the participation of all social actors. Thus, it is 
not  enough  that  European  policies  are  integrated,  they  must  also  be  inclusive.  They  must 
involve parliaments, economic agents, civil society organisations and all European citizens.  

The protection of life, security and freedom requires, in our times, novel solutions, means and 
approaches. If terrorists are to be denied the use of liberty against liberty itself, the whole of 
society will need to participate in the definition and the development  of new tools and new 
controls:  the  more  effective  tools  required  to  fight  global  terrorism  and  the  new  effective 
controls required to maintain the balance between collective security and individual freedom. 
Security  objectives  must  nevertheless  remain  compatible  with  the  principles  of  fundamental 
liberties; and with the international rules on free entrepreneurship and commercial exchanges; 

1 

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3 

4 

5 

6 

of 

2004, 

Terrorism 

25  March 

on  Combating 

European  Council  Declaration 
http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/79637.pdf 
BRUSSELS  EUROPEAN  COUNCIL  -  17  AND  18  JUNE  2004  -  PRESIDENCY  CONCLUSIONS, 
10679/2/04 REV2, http://ue.eu.int/uedocs/cmsUpload/81742.pdf 
Commission Staff Working paper, “Compendium Counter-Terrorist Actions: Contribution of the 
Commission Services”, SEC (2004) 669 of 25 May 2004 
Commission Communications on “Terrorist Financing – taking the fight forward” [COM (2004) 700], “ 
Prevention  and  consequence  management  in  the  fight  against  terrorism”  [COM  (2004)  701],  and 
“Critical Infrastructure Protection in the fight against terrorism” [COM (2004) 702], 
Article  3  of  the  Universal  Declaration  on  Human  Rights:  “Everyone  has  the  right  to  life,  liberty  and 
security of person.” 
C.f. Articles 2.1 “Everyone has the right to life” and 6 “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of 
person 
European  Union, 
http://www.europarl.eu.int/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf 

Fundamental 

Charter 

Rights 

the 

the 

of 

of 

of 

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the  confidentiality  of  individual  and  commercial  data  gathered  for  the  purpose  of  security 
services must absolutely be guaranteed in the EU and also by our commercial partners. 

2.1. 

Defending fundamental rights against violent radicalisation 

Opposing violent radicalisation within our societies and disrupting the conditions facilitating 
the recruitment of terrorists must be fundamental priorities in a strategy to prevent terrorism. 
The Commission intends to contribute to related work in the Council in 2005 by drawing inter 
alia  on  the  expertise  of  the  European  Monitoring  centre  on  racism  and  xenophobia,  experts 
and  researchers.  It  will  aim,  on  the  one  hand,  to  identify  where  European  policies  and 
instruments  can  play  a  preventive  role  against  violent  radicalisation  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
examine how best to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the European 
Constitutional Treaty from those - who ever they may be – who would attempt attack them 
through violence and terror. 

2.2. 

Public-Private Security Dialogue 

Given the important role of the private sector in the prevention, preparedness and response to 
terrorist  attacks,  illustrated  in  each  of  the  three  other  contributions  to  the  preparation  of  the 
December  2004  European  Council,  the  Commission  considers  it  necessary  to  engage  in  a 
“Public-Private  Security  Dialogue”  with  representatives  of  European,  national  and  sector 
federations  and  other  representative  organisations.  This  should  build  upon  previous  work  in 
this  field  and  existing  partnerships,  notably  regarding  the  establishment  of  Public-Private 
Partnerships to address organised crime. It should not lead to the creation of new structures 
but  rather  constitute  an  opportunity  for  both  sides  to  enter  into  a  productive  dialogue  on 
balancing  Europe’s  security  needs  with  the  need  not  to  disrupt  circulation  of  goods  and 
services throughout Europe while respecting the confidentiality of individual and commercial 
data gathered for security purposes and while keeping the impact on enterprises and industries 
associated  with  the  proposed  measures  proportionate  to  the  achievement  of  security  risks 
reduction. 

2.3. 

Victims of terrorism 

Support to the victims and their families as well as contributions to rehabilitation efforts must 
be an integral part of the response to terrorist attacks in a society bound by solidarity. On 25 
March, the European Council invited the Commission “to ensure the allocation, as a matter 
of urgency, of the funds available in the 2004 budget for supporting victims of terrorism.” 

The Commission is currently working on different aspects of this response and implementing 
a pilot project agreed upon by the Parliament to support the financing of projects intended to 
help the victims to recover and to raise awareness of the public against terrorist threat. 

In addition, a mechanism should be established which would share the economic burden of an 
event causing extreme damages, such as the World Trade Center attacks in New York, among 
the entire European Union. By exercising this solidarity, each Member State will find easier 
to  cope  with  the  aftermath  of  an  attack  of  such  a  magnitude.  The  Commission  is  studying 
different options for such a mechanism in view to a possible proposal mid-2005. 

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2.4.  Making 11 March a day of civic and democratic debate on securing freedom 

The  Commission  intends  to  contribute  to  honouring  the  memories  of  the  victims  of  the  11 
March 2004 outrage, through the ceremonies to be held on the 1st European day of the victims 
of terrorism, on 11 March 2005. The Commission considers that the best way it can contribute 
to  this,  is  by  helping  to  make  this  day  a  day  of  civic  and  democratic  debate  on  securing 
freedom. In the days following 11 March European citizens in all member states and in their 
millions  have  shown  solidarity,  commitment,  courage  and  confidence  in  national  and 
European institutions. The Union must honour this democratic maturity and contribute to an 
informed debate on the delicate balances which have to be found if Europe is to equate the 
highest  level  of  public  security  with  the  strictest  protection  of  the  freedom  and  guarantees 
which characterise Europe. The Commission is willing to contribute, in cooperation with the 
Council,  to the production of  a  Memorial Report to be  addressed to the European, National 
and other parliaments as well as European citizens in general describing the measures taken 
by  Europe  between  11  March  2004  and  11  March  2005  and  the  respective  state  of 
implementation  at  European  and  national  level  as  well  as  the  main  challenges  which  lay 
ahead. Such a report, dedicated to the memory of the victims of terrorism, could be prefaced 
by a message of the European Council. 

3. 

AN  INTEGRATED  APPROACH  TO  THE  PREVENTION,  PREPAREDNESS 
AND  RESPONSE  TO  TERRORIST  ATTACKS  IN  THE  COMMUNITY 
SPHERE 

3.1. 

Community policies in the fight against terrorism  

At  its  meeting  of  18  June  2004,  the  European  Council  highlighted  the  importance  of  an 
integrated  approach  in  the  fight  against  terrorism  and  underlined  the  importance  of  making 
use of the wide-ranging instruments of the European Union. The Commission fully subscribes 
to this view which guides its own work. 

The  draft  Constitutional  Treaty  abolishes  the  third  pillar  and,  with  few  exceptions, 
mainstreams  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  within  other  Union  policies.  The  Commission  has 
acquired considerable experience in the first pillar in the areas on which the European Council 
of June has asked for its contribution. This opens the way for a smooth institutional landing in 
the  areas  where  the  Commission  will,  following  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Treaty,  play  its 
traditional policy preparation and execution role. The Commission considers that consistency 
and effectiveness in combating terrorism can only be achieved through bringing about a better 
mainstreaming of police cooperation and judicial cooperation into our overall policies.  

Each  of  the  three  other  Communications  which  are  a  part  of  the  current  contribution, 
addresses  the  ways  in  which  the  Commission,  with  its  present  tools  and,  in  some  cases, 
equipped with new tools, could enhance European prevention, preparedness and response to 
terrorist attacks, respectively on terrorist financing, prevention and consequence management 
and  critical  infrastructure  protection  in  the  fight  against  terrorism.  They  also  highlight  the 
importance of several overarching requirements which draw on many instruments and means 
found across a very wide spectrum of Community policies. 

The  following  actions  illustrate  the  mainstreaming  of  security  objectives  in  numerous 
community  policies  with  a  view  to  the  prevention,  preparedness  and  response  to  terrorist 
attacks.  It  is  not  an  exhaustive  list  of  all  policy  areas  where  the  Commission  is  currently 

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contributing directly towards the implementation of the Union’s Plan of Action on Combating 
Terrorism. Such list, and that of all other policy areas where the Commission is contributing 
to  pursue  the  strategic  priorities  set  by  the  European  council  on  25  March,  would  include 
numerous other areas as different as transport, energy and space. 

3.2. 

External cooperation 

The European Council emphasised at its meeting of 18 June “the need to ensure that the fight 
against  terrorism  is  fully  integrated  into  EU  external  relations  policy  and  requests  that 
concrete  proposals  are  submitted  to  the  December  European  Council  on  how  this  is  most 
effectively achieved.” 

The  Commission  is  working  in  collaboration  with  the  Council  for  the  European  Council  on 
how to incorporate the fight against terrorism into the various elements of the EU’s external 
relations policy. As a first contribution, the Commission services have produced a Non-Paper, 
‘The Commission’s Counter-Terrorism Technical Assistance Strategy’.  

This  paper  sets  out  the  strategic  policy  rationale  for  developing  the  Commission’s 
contribution  to  the  overall  EU  approach  to  providing  counter-terrorism  assistance  to  third 
countries  and  regions.  The  strategy  is  based  upon  the  following  rationale:  EC  assistance 
should build upon existing cooperation and assistance, and be characterised by a collaborative 
approach  with  recipient  countries;  it  should  focus  on  areas  of  EC  comparative  advantage  - 
geographically,  with  a  particular  emphasis  on  the  Wider  European  neighbourhood  and  - 
thematically,  providing  longer-term  institution  building  necessary  to  ensure  durable  results, 
covering  UNSCR  1373  priority  areas  such  as  police  and  judicial  cooperation,  financial  law 
and practice, and border management. 

The Commission will further develop all transport and energy security aspects in the context 
of the fight against terrorism including in programming external assistance and in cooperation 
with  third  countries.  The  level  of  security  in  terms  of  infrastructure  and  procedures  in 
European  Union  neighbours  and  in  third  Countries  with  which  the  Union  has  sustained 
commercial relations needs to be as high as possible. In any case it should be commensurate 
with internationally established standards.  

In order to avoid re-screening or re-checking imports or goods or persons upon arrival or in 
transit,  mutual  recognition  agreements  on  the  implementation  of  the  agreed  international 
measures  should  be  agreed  and  drafted  by  the  Commission  and  proposed  to  Member  States 
for endorsement. Peer reviews of these respective systems should be regularly conducted. 

The  Commission  is  also  producing  additional  contributions,  on  other  aspects  of  the  EU’s 
approach  to  integrating  the  fight  against  terrorism  into  its  external  relations,  namely: 
developing  cultural  dialogue  with  the  Islamic  world;  addressing  the  underlying  factors  of 
terrorism; and tackling the links between international organised crime and terrorism. 

There  are  in  addition  important  links  to  the  work  also  underway  in  cooperation  with  the 
Council in the area of non-proliferation  of  weapons  of  mass  destruction  including measures 
related to dual-use items and export controls.  

It  is  also  important  to  note  that  related  issues  form  an  important  part  of  multilateral  and 
bilateral cooperation programs in which the Commission is involved. 

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3.3. 

Integrating European and national systems  

If  Europe  is  going  to  be  able  to  ensure  the  security  of  its  citizens  to  the  highest  possible 
standards it must be able to draw on the best information and the best expertise wherever this 
may be found. 

The Commission has developed a number of rapid alert systems and a civil protection system 
allowing  for  the  concrete,  coordinated  and  effective  expression  of  solidarity  in  case  of 
emergencies,  including  those  of  a  terrorist  origin.  The  duty  office  of  the  Commission’s 
Security  Directorate  operates  on  a  24/7  staffed  basis.  It  acts  as  a  point  of  contact  for  the 
majority of alert systems. In addition, there are command centres and crisis rooms in different 
services,  which  are  triggered  in  a  case  of  an  alert  and  which  are  linked  with  counterparts 
across  all  the  member  states  of  the  Union.  The  Commission  is  now  actively  considering 
establishing a central structure which will, as appropriate, link all the subsystems and host, in 
the  event  of  crisis,  joint  teams  which  will  bring  together  all  the  relevant  information  and 
expertise. 

Analogous  processes  of  consolidation  and  integration  at  European  level  are  required  and 
actually underway in the areas of fighting the financing of terrorism – e.g. real time access by 
law  enforcement  and  intelligence  services  to  financial  institutions  databases  of  subjects  and 
transactions.  

Furthermore, with regard to ensuring supply chain security, the Commission currently has a 
proposal  before  the  Council  and  Parliament  aimed  at  having  a  better  warning  system 
concerning exchanges of goods in order to ensure better control of all suspicious movements 
without hindering the normal flow of trade. 

3.4. 

Authorities communicating with the public 

Whilst  the  internal  communications  between  authorities  is  critical  in  the  case  of  a  terrorist 
attack or similar emergency, good communications with the public may be just as critical. As 
the electricity black out in Italy has shown, failure to provide adequate communications with 
the public may result in unrest and even in mass hysteria. Equally, failure to pick up important 
signals  from  the  public  may  cause  calamities  that  could  have  otherwise  been  prevented  or 
mitigated.  

Good  communications  with  the  public  requires  modern  and  state-of-the  art  communications 
and  information  processing  systems  and  procedures  that  are  adapted  to  the  new  threat 
environment.  Effective  communication  and  information  systems  can  assist  with  the  early 
detection of an event, the rapid analysis, and the alert of the population in targeted areas. They 
are therefore key instruments for preventing and mitigating the consequences of any threat or 
attack.  Several  Member  States  are  currently  testing  their  public  warning  systems  and  new 
technical capabilities such as GSM cell-broadcasts are being tested or are already deployed. 

The new global security environment and the rapid technological evolution cause major new 
challenges upon  public safety and emergency communications services. The Commission is 
working  to  set  up  a  user  forum  made  up  of  officials  in  the  field  of  public  safety  and 
emergency  communications  services.  This  forum  will  facilitate  a  more  permanent  dialogue 
between emergency service operators and authorities on interoperable systems for emergency 
handling and new concepts for public warning systems and procedures. 

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3.5. 

Linking-up with the law enforcement community 

A second requirement concerns the involvement of law enforcement authorities and internal 
security authorities. In all the areas referred to these agencies may need to intervene. Such a 
role is crucial in the fight against the financing of terrorists, highly advisable in establishment 
of  vulnerability  assessments  and  the  elaboration  of  standards  for  the  protection  of  critical 
infrastructure and inevitable to varying degrees in the response to any terrorist attack. 

However,  the  sharing  of  alerts  between  Community  systems  and  the  law  enforcement  and 
internal security authorities in the Member States can, and in the Commission’s view should, 
be  significantly  improved.  Such  authorities  should  have  access  to  alerts  produced  by  the 
different  European  systems  and  should  also  be  able  to  contribute  with  relevant  information. 
The Commission believes that Europol should host a law enforcement alert mechanism (the 
Law  Enforcement  Network,  LEN)  and  its  connection  with  other  European  rapid  alert  and 
rapid  response  systems.  Participation  of  Europol  will  take  place  within  the  limits  of  the 
Europol Convention. 

The Commission also believes that Europol should play a major role in the establishment of 
the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) whose preparation it 
aims to complete in the course of 2005. 

The Commission is of the view that Europol, Eurojust and other competent authorities must 
have  access  to  the  most  complete  and  up-to-date  information  to  ensure  an  effective  fight 
against  terrorist  financing.  There  should  be  an  overriding  readiness  at  national,  EU  and 
international  levels  to  exchange  information  relevant  to  all  terrorist  offences,  including 
participation in the activities of a terrorist group through any form of financing.  

3.6. 

The security research priority 

The  Commission  considers  it  necessary  for  the  Union  to  take  decisive  steps,  in  quantitative 
and qualitative terms, to reinforce scientific and technological research in the area of security 
by more than one order of magnitude. 

Issues  related  to  civil  protection  (including  biosecurity  and  protection  against  risks  arising 
from terrorist attacks) and crisis management are covered by the Scientific Support to Policies 
section of the 6th Framework Programme for Research. In addition to the ongoing initiatives, 
the  Commission  has  recently  adopted  a  Communication  on  “Security  Research  –  the  next 
steps”,  drawing  on  a  report  elaborated  by  a  Group  of  Personalities  in  the  Field  of  Security 
Research.  This  report  advocates  that  as  a  minimum  there  should  be  additional  funding  of  1 
billion € per year for a European Union Security Research Programme from 2007 onwards. 
The  Commission  has  noted  the  recommendation  of  the  Group  of  personalities  that  security 
research should be attributed an appropriate level of resources. It has employed its budgetary 
and policy follow-up accordingly in the financial perspectives.  

A  European  Security  Research  Programme  would  significantly  reinforce  the  activities  in 
many  areas,  several  of  which  are  necessary  to  meet  the  requirements  of  fighting  terrorist 
financing,  protecting  critical  infrastructures  and  developing  consequence  management.  In 
addition, the importance of cyber security as a focus of the IST Programme will continue to 
be  high  as  the  development  of  an  “e-economy”  requires  a  parallel  improvement  of  “e-
security”.  

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The Commission considers that the private sector must play an important role – and make a 
concrete investment in security research. On its side, the Union must be ready to support the 
development of innovative joint research ventures associating public and private means. 

3.7. 

The role of the private sector  

Another  very  important  overarching  requirement  is  that  of  effective  and  integrated 
cooperation  with  the  private  sector.  Whether  one  considers  the  need  to  monitor  financial 
flows  or  to  reinforce  the  resilience  of  critical  infrastructures,  private  operators  will  have  a 
crucial role to play. The Commission believes that it is necessary to engage the private sector 
as  early  as  possible  in  the  identification  and  the  development  of  new  solutions  towards  the 
security enhancement of goods and services.  

Terrorism  will  most  often  require  technological  innovation  and  new  forms  of  partnership, 
leading to added internal and external competitiveness. Private sector structured involvement 
in the development of high standards, practices and procedures for the security enhancement 
of goods and services should contribute, where possible, in order to avoid the imposition of 
new  legislative  requirements  on  industry.  Preserving  and  reinforcing  the  integrity  of  the 
internal market requires that such work is conducted through cooperation at European level. 

3.8. 

Explosives 

In  its  declaration  of  25  March,  the  European  Council  recognised  “that  there  is  a  need  to 
ensure  terrorist  organisations  and  groups  are  starved  of  the  components  of  their  trade”.  It 
further underlined the “need to ensure greater security of firearms, explosives, bomb-making 
equipment, and the technologies that contribute to the perpetration of terrorist outrages. The 
issue was subsequently addressed in the Commission’s “Compendium” and integrated in the 
revised Action Plan.  

The Commission is actively pursuing the above objectives and contributing to the work in the 
Council  instances,  notably  by  means  of  staff  working  papers.  This  work  is  conducted  in  an 
inclusive manner involving the research community, experts, Europol, and the explosive and 
detonators  manufactures.  The  aim  is  that  notably  the  traceability,  detection,  identification 
enhancement,  storage,  accounting,  transport  and  handling  procedures  regarding  European 
explosives and detonators should contribute effectively to the highest possible security level. 
If necessary, proposals will be presented for that purpose. 

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