Council Joint Action 2007/501/CFSP of 16 July 2007 on cooperation with the African Centre for Study and Research on Terrorism in the framework of the implementation of the European Union counter-terrorism strategy
Date: 2007-07-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Africa, action programme, cooperation policy, exchange of information, joint action, terrorism, the EU's international role

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III

(Acts adopted under the EU Treaty)

ACTS ADOPTED UNDER TITLE V OF THE EU TREATY

COUNCIL JOINT ACTION 2007/501/CFSP

of 16 July 2007

on cooperation with the African Centre for Study and Research on Terrorism in the framework of
the implementation of the European Union counter-terrorism strategy

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(6)

The efficiency of the fight against terrorism in Africa is
undermined by certain local weaknesses, particularly in
the area of institutional organisation,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in
particular Article 14 thereof,

HAS ADOPTED THIS JOINT ACTION:

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

On 15 December 2005 the European Council adopted
the European Union counter-terrorism strategy, which
provided in particular for the development of coop-
eration with the European Union's external partners in
preventing and combating terrorism.

On 15 December 2005 the European Union adopted the
strategy ‘The European Union and Africa:
towards a
strategic partnership’,
in which the European Union
undertook to support the efforts of the African states
in the fight against terrorism.

Article 1

Objective

The objective of this Joint Action is to provide the Member
States of the African Union with support from the European
Union in improving the organisation of their capacities in the
fight against terrorism in the framework of the provisions of the
European Union counter-terrorism strategy on the promotion
of a partnership in this area outside the European Union,
in
particular with international organisations. By means of this
Joint Action, the European Union is also seeking to strengthen
cooperation between the African Union countries in the field of
counter-terrorism, in particular through the exchange of infor-
mation.

On 14 September 2002 the African Union approved a
Plan of Action on the Prevention and Combating of
Terrorism in Africa, which provided in particular for
the creation of
the African Centre for Study and
Research on Terrorism (ACSRT).

For the purposes of this Joint Action, the European Union shall
provide the ACSRT with financial support for the implemen-
tation of the project described below, which aims to improve
the
the efficiency of
African countries.

the counter-terrorism arrangements of

Article 2

Description of the project

The ACSRT was created on 13 October 2004 by the
It
African Union.
responsible for evaluating the
in Africa and for promoting intra-
terrorist
threat
African cooperation against
to
terrorism.
receive support from Europe.

It wishes

is

The project shall consist in carrying out audit missions on
national counter-terrorism arrangements and providing advice
on reorganisation in the Member States of the African Union.
These missions shall be based on an action plan, drawn up in
collaboration with the ACSRT, which the European Union shall
present at a seminar held beforehand in Addis Ababa with all
member countries of the African Union.

threat

The terrorist
is developing in certain African
countries and represents a growing danger not only for
them, but also for the European Union.

A detailed description of the project is set out in the Annex.

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Article 3

Implementation

Article 5

Reporting and evaluation

1.
The Presidency, assisted by the Secretary-General of the
Council/High Representative for the CFSP (SG/HR), shall be
responsible for the implementation of this Joint Action. The
Commission shall be fully associated.

2.
The technical implementation of the project referred to in
Article 2 shall be entrusted to the ACSRT, which shall perform
this task under the control of the SG/HR. For this purpose, the
SG/HR shall enter into the necessary arrangements with the
ACSRT.

Article 4

Financial provisions

1.
The financial reference amount for the implementation of
the project referred to in Article 2 is EUR 665 000, funded
from the general budget of
the European Communities for
2007.

2.
The expenditure shall be managed under the responsibility
of the Commission in accordance with the rules and procedures
of the European Community applicable to the general budget of
the European Communities.

The Commission shall supervise the proper management
3.
of the expenditure referred to in paragraph 2, which will take
the form of a grant. For this purpose, the Commission shall
conclude a financing agreement with the ACSRT. The financing
the
agreement provides that
European Union's contribution is fully visible, appropriate to
its size.

the ACSRT shall ensure that

endeavour

The Commission shall

the
4.
financing agreement referred to in paragraph 3 as soon as
possible after the entry into force of this Joint Action. It shall
inform the Council of any difficulties in that process and of the
date of conclusion of the financing agreement.

to conclude

The Presidency, assisted by the SG/HR, shall report
to the
Council on the implementation of this Joint Action on the
basis of regular reports to be provided by the ACSRT. The
reports drawn up for the Council shall
include an evaluation
of the project referred to in Article 2. The Commission shall be
fully associated and shall provide information on the financial
aspects of the implementation of this Joint Action.

Article 6

Consistency and cooperation

The Council and the Commission shall, each within their
respective powers, ensure consistency between the implemen-
tation of this Joint Action and other external activities of the
Community in accordance with the second paragraph of Article
3 of the Treaty on the European Union. The Council and the
Commission shall cooperate to this end.

Article 7

Entry into force and duration

It

its
This Joint Action shall enter into force on the day of
adoption.
the financing
shall expire 18 months after
agreement between the Commission and the ACSRT, referred
to in Article 4(3), has been concluded, or on 16 July 2008 if
the financing agreement has not been concluded before that
date.

Article 8

Publication

This Joint Action shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

Done at Brussels, 16 July 2007.

For the Council
The President

J. SILVA

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ANNEX

European Union action to support the African Union in the fight against terrorism

Description of the action

The Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism, signed in Algiers on 14 July 1999 by the member
countries of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), is the first instrument specifically designed to combat terrorism
across the entire African continent.

This convention contains a definition of terrorism (1), the obligation to classify terrorist acts as crimes under national law,
the undertaking not to support terrorist activities, the obligation for states to cooperate in combating terrorism by
exchanging information, and provisions on the extradition of terrorists and on facilitating criminal
investigations by
foreign authorities on national territory.

On this basis, the African Union (AU), which replaced the OAU in 2001, approved the Plan of Action on the Prevention
and Combating of Terrorism in Africa on 14 September 2002 in Algiers. The plan aims to implement the OAU
Convention by means of specific measures.

In particular, Section H of the Plan of Action provides for the creation of the African Centre for Study and Research on
Terrorism (ACSRT), with responsibility for carrying out training measures, conducting studies on terrorism, setting up a
database system for gathering, exchanging and analysing intelligence, as well as for terrorism-related surveillance and
alerts. The Centre has a correspondent, called the ‘focal point’, in each country.

Content of the project

The EU's support for the AU in the fight against terrorism forms part of a phased approach which makes it possible to
identify cooperation needs and the added value of a measure.

A joint seminar will be organised by the ACSRT in the second half of 2007 in Addis Ababa in which the EU will offer to
evaluate the national counter-terrorism arrangements of the African countries and to provide advice on reorganisation.
An action plan will be presented during this seminar. At the end, those countries wishing to participate in the im-
plementation of the plan and to host an audit mission on their territory can express their desire to do so. This plan
involves carrying out audit missions to improve the organisation of counter-terrorism in Africa.

In a second phase, missions to evaluate the AU countries' local counter-terrorism capacities will be carried out in those
countries which request them at the end of the seminar. The audit teams will evaluate the countries' counter-terrorism
capacities in situ in order to suggest improvements in a report drawn up by the Head of Mission and then forwarded to
the ACSRT, which will be responsible for sending it to the Council for communication to the Member States.

In a third phase and on the basis of these evaluations, the ACSRT (with the agreement of the EU) will make rec-
ommendations to the audited countries, which will be responsible for implementing their conclusions.

(1) Article 1(3) of this Convention defines a ‘terrorist act’ as ‘any act which is a violation of the criminal laws of a State Party and which
may endanger the life, physical integrity or freedom of, or cause serious injury or death to, any person, any number or group of
persons or causes or may cause damage to public or private property, natural resources, environmental or cultural heritage and is
calculated or intended to:

i) intimidate, put in fear, force, coerce or induce any government, body, institution, the general public or any segment thereof, to do
or abstain from doing any act, or to adopt or abandon a particular standpoint, or to act according to certain principles; or

ii) disrupt any public service, the delivery of any essential service to the public or to create a public emergency; or
iii) create general insurrection in a State.’

The definition in this Article also covers the financing of terrorism, insofar as it includes ‘any promotion, sponsoring, contribution
to, command, aid, incitement, encouragement, attempt, threat, conspiracy, organizing, or procurement of any person, with the
intent to commit any act referred to in [the preceding] paragraph.’

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Arrangements for implementing the joint action

In receiving CFSP funds, the ACSRT is given a central role in the implementation of the Joint Action. The ACSRT will
take charge of the organisation of the Addis Ababa seminar. In order to prepare the audit missions,
it will be in
permanent contact with the States which have accepted the action plan; it will also manage the missions in operational
and financial terms and play a coordinating role. The Member States will be briefed regularly on the progress of this Joint
Action which will take place over a period of 18 months.

A seminar bringing together two representatives from the 53 countries of the AU, Morocco, the UNODC, the ACSRT and
each EU Member State, as well as the EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator, will be held in Addis Ababa, seat of the AU, in
the second half of 2007. The representatives will be high-level experts and senior officials.

Opened by a representative of the AU, it will include contributions by:

— the ACSRT on evaluating the terrorist threat,

— the UNODC on international agreements,

— the coordinator of European counter-terrorism policy,

— European representatives from the national counter-terrorism coordination units,

— AU representatives.

The seminar will close with the presentation of an action plan drawn up in advance by the EU proposing missions, for
those countries wishing to have them, to audit national counter-terrorism arrangements and give advice on reorgani-
sation.

The provisional budget for the seminar will cover the travel and subsistence expenses of the representatives of the 53
countries of the AU and of Morocco, the representatives from Europe and from the international organisations, as well as
a preparatory mission and a mission to put the logistics of the seminar in place. The working languages of the seminar
will be those of the AU: English, French, Arabic and Portuguese.

At the close of the seminar, the African states will state whether they wish to receive an audit mission or not. The audit
teams will be made up of two specialists from the EU Member States and one member of the ACSRT. They must have
free access to all relevant information and their aim will be to evaluate the counter-terrorism arrangements in each State.
At the end of their mission, they will draft reports containing recommendations, which, if accepted by the authorities of
the audited countries, will be implemented by these authorities with monitoring by the ACSRT.