Own initiative opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Stepping up the fight against terrorism: involvement of regional and local authorities
Date: 2008-10-08
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU Member State, democracy, economic development, human rights, terrorism

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Official Journal of the European Union

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III

(Preparatory Acts)

COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

76th PLENARY SESSION HELD ON 8 AND 9 OCTOBER 2008

Own initiative opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Stepping up the fight against terrorism:
involvement of regional and local authorities’

(2008/C 325/01)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS:

— firmly agrees that the global threat faced from terrorism is a serious threat to democracy, human

rights, and economic and social development across the international community;

— underlines that local and regional authorities will be central to the implementation of the EU Counter
Terrorism Strategy. In particular these authorities will drive the delivery of the Prevent pillar and forth-
coming counter terrorism and de-radicalisation initiatives across Member States;

— recognises the importance of the EU Anti-Radicalisation strategy which is implemented alongside the
EU Counter Terrorism Strategy but stresses that these strategies must include space for localised imple-
mentation, drawing upon local experiences and understanding, developing clear frameworks for com-
munity intelligence and providing support and resource to local authorities to deliver counter violent
radicalisation projects where necessary; underlines that the development of a regional and local public
administration role in the prevention of terrorism and violent radicalisation should be conducted in
partnership with the EU and governments of the Members States;

— recommends that public consultation at a local level be conducted in Members States to establish a
multifaceted understanding of local experiences and concepts of terrorism and motivations towards
extremism. Member States should ensure that consultation and engagement opens up participation to
those who do not normally interact with local democracy;

— welcomes the second peer review of crisis management plans currently being carried out by the
Commission; however calls upon the Commission to ensure that local and regional authorities play a
full and active role in the review;

— calls upon the Union to ensure that all counter terrorist policy has direct consideration for equality
and human rights and ensures that interventions do not result in a negative experience for certain
communities fuelling alienation and motivations towards extremism.

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Rapporteur: Lord Graham TOPE (UK/ALDE), Member of London Borough of Sutton and of the Metro-

politan Police Authority

Reference documents

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: Stepping up the fight
against terrorism

COM(2007) 649 final

Proposal
2002/475/JHA on Combating Terrorism

for a Council Framework Decision amending the Framework Decision of 13.6.2002

COM(2007) 650 final

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Stepping up the ‘Prevent’ pillar

1.
firmly agrees that the global threat faced from terrorism is
a serious threat to democracy, human rights, and economic and
social development across the international community;

acknowledges

2.
inevitably focus on
that attention will
Al Qaeda inspired terrorism and the radicalisation across our
communities into violent extremism; however recalls that many
recent acts of terrorism have been committed by people born
and raised within the country in which the act was committed
or elsewhere within the EU, often in response to situations
internal to the country where the attack took place, and may
not have had religion as their principal motivation. Nevertheless,
the CoR recognises that the threat faced from Al Qaeda inspired
terrorism is a key security issue faced by the EU today;

feels that the EU's counter-terrorism activities must have a
3.
(i) a direct assault on terrorist activities; and
twofold focus:
(ii) preventive action. The earlier the chain of causes that result
in terrorist activity can be broken the better. In this regard, it
may be very useful to step up research into the causes and
motives that induce people to support, finance or take part in
terrorist activity;

4.
acknowledges that religious factors cannot be ignored
when dealing with terrorism. More must be done to spread the
message that terrorist activity cannot be justified under any
circumstances;

5.
thinks therefore that the EU must take the initiative and
back moves designed to mitigate terrorism through religious
and cultural dialogue;

6.
feels that EU cooperation with non-EU countries is a
vitally important tool in the prevention of terrorism. Steps must
be taken to bolster external cooperation strategies of this kind
in a bid both to promote exchanges of information and to
foster enhanced practical cooperation among police forces, and
cooperation among customs administrations;

underlines that

7.
local and regional authorities will be
central to the implementation of the EU Counter Terrorism

Strategy. In particular these authorities, alongside both national
and regional law enforcement partners with powers to protect
persons and property, will drive the delivery of the Prevent
pillar and forthcoming counter terrorism and de-radicalisation
initiatives across Member States;

8.
draws attention to the considerable progress made in the
delivery of the other three pillars: Protect, Pursue and Respond
across Members States since the framework legislation of 2002.
Furthermore welcomes proposals in the current initiative to step
up the fight against terrorism; to establish a legal basis for
aspects of the counter-terrorism strategy including the criminali-
sation of terrorist training, recruitment and public provocation
to commit terrorist offences, the prevention of the use of explo-
sives by terrorists, the use of airline passenger information in
law enforcement investigations, preventing and penalizing the
funding of terrorism, and in recognising the need for technolo-
gical research and development to assist policing across the
Union to protect citizens from terrorist attacks;

nevertheless states that,

in stepping up the fight against
9.
terrorism, the EU should intensify investment into the develop-
ment of the Prevent pillar in partnership with Members States,
law enforcement agencies and regional and local authorities,
together with the enforcement bodies accountable to them.
Prevention of
terrorism and violent extremism cannot be
achieved through legislative means and enforcement alone.
Furthermore, punitive measures alone will not be effective and
efforts must focus on providing people who are particularly
susceptible to radicalisation and recruitment to terrorism with
positive prospects and a place in society;

believes

10.
that an essential approach to dealing with
terrorism is prevention based on combating the factors that are
closely linked to and encourage radicalisation and are likely to
lead to terrorism;

recognises that terrorism is often global in nature and
11.
terrorism is
inspiration. However states that
experienced directly by citizens and communities in a real and
individual way. Those planning and supporting acts of violent
extremism live and act freely as European citizens and residents

the impact of

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within our communities, using and interacting with local
services,
local democracy and local people. Drawing upon
experiences across the EU, Member States therefore recognise
the need to fully analyse, elucidate and address the reasons,
motivations and processes that lead European citizens into the
pathway of violent extremism and the Al Qaeda movement;

12.
believes that dealing with radicalisation requires targeted
action at local level. The role of local and regional authorities,
which have better access to susceptible groups, is particularly
important in ensuring that people residing in the EU are as
socially well-integrated as possible, without discrimination and
under peaceful and democratic conditions;

nator in establishing practical guidance setting out best practice
across areas conducting engagement and partnership projects to
counter radicalisation;

19.
recommends that the CoR hosts an annual event to facil-
itate strategic learning through the exchange of experiences
between local and regional authorities on a pan European level
and to provide support to further develop local interventions
for the prevention of terrorism and pathways to violent extre-
mism;

recalls that in 2003 the Congress of

the Council of
13.
Europe adopted specific recommendations on the role of local
authorities in tackling terrorism;

Learning from engagement and working in partnership

Delivery

Action Plan: the role of local and regional authorities

14.
welcomes efforts made by the European Commission to
focus attention on the Prevent Pillar of the counter terrorism
strategy and welcomes plans to publish a Communication on
combating violent radicalisation in 2008. However would note
that Prevent is a significant cultural shift for counter terrorist
agencies and requires the knowledge, experience and coopera-
tion of local and regional authorities;

15.
endorses the EU initiative declaring 2008 the European
Year of Intercultural Dialogue, since this is an excellent way of
encouraging effective dialogue,
tolerance and understanding
between different cultures and faiths;

16.
underlines that the development of a regional and local
public administration role in the prevention of terrorism and
violent radicalisation should be conducted in partnership with
the Members States. Therefore
the EU and governments of
recommends that a system of
local and regional authority
networks be established in each Member State in partnership
with national governments, the police (with the involvement of
regional bodies with exclusive powers to protect persons and
property) and local communities to facilitate the exchange of
good practice in relation to social
integration, professional
learning and understanding of violent extremism growing out of
local districts and neighbourhoods;

17.
recommends that public consultation at a local level be
conducted in Members States to establish a multifaceted under-
local experiences and concepts of terrorism and
standing of
motivations towards extremism. Member States should ensure
that consultation and engagement opens up participation to
those who do not normally interact with local democracy;

intends

18.
present Opinion by
supporting the Commission and the Counter-Terrorism Coordi-

supplement

the

to

recognises the importance of the EU Anti-Radicalisation
20.
strategy which is
implemented alongside the EU Counter
Terrorism Strategy but stresses that these strategies must include
space for localised implementation, drawing upon local experi-
ences and understanding, developing clear frameworks for com-
munity intelligence and providing support and resource to local
authorities to deliver counter violent
radicalisation projects
where necessary;

recommends adoption of

the Prüm
21.
Convention on stepping up cross-border cooperation to combat
terrorism;

the provisions of

Community intelligence

calls upon Member States and the police to develop clear
22.
and safe systems for the exchange of information between local
and regional partners (including local and regional policing
units) with counter terrorist and anti-violent radicalisation units;

23.
emphasises that systems in place to gather community
intelligence must have clear consideration to security implica-
tions, fundamental rights of citizens and data protection in rela-
tion to the exchange of any information between local partners
and the police. Citizens must be given the option of
anonymously informing municipal authorities and police of
potential terrorist attacks;

24.
also, considers it essential that the boundaries between
police, police agencies and local authorities in relation to com-
munity intelligence are clear; that systems are established to
provide local and regional partners with the reassurance that
participation will not result in harmful effects to community
relations;
information sources are protected and that
non-policing partners provide a voluntary supplementary role;

that

25.
proposes that guidelines be devised by the European
Union to support the development of information sharing and
to ensure that systems are robust, fair and secure;

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Counter radicalisation

26.
calls upon Members States to support local and regional
authorities to establish closer working relationships with police
(including both national and regional
forces) and criminal
justice authorities to deliver counter radicalisation projects; and
that projects are established and targeted from an informed
picture using police intelligence alongside local and regional
knowledge and experiences;

27.
suggests that support be given to intercultural dialogue
and implementation of social integration plans at local level, so
as to avoid radicalisation and use of force;

recognises that

28.
the level of resources committed by
Member States will vary according to the intelligence picture.
However emphasises that continued engagement with commu-
nities remains necessary in order to scrutinise the effectiveness
of current projects, to build a long-term relationship between
the citizen, law enforcement agencies and governments in rela-
tion to counter terrorism, and to consider changing viewpoints
and demographics. Resource and project
focus should thus
adapt accordingly;

29.
recommends that Member States and local and regional
authorities develop projects with communities to undermine
violent extremist ideology and to support mainstream voices.
Such projects should be supported by robust professional
guidance and evaluated independently to assess effectiveness.
Therefore, CoR proposes that Member States and local and
regional bodies jointly identify mainstream community leaders
to discredit violent radicals and support credible alternative
messages to those of these extremists;

notes

the well-known phenomenon that

30.
terrorism
flourishes where people are disaffected with society and feel
powerless and excluded.
In a well-functioning democratic
society, there is less of a risk that terrorist ideas and terrorist
networks will gain a foothold and begin to grow. The CoR thus
considers it vital that the promotion of democracy and compli-
ance with civil and political rights should be a key element in
any moves to combat terrorism;

33.
recommends that Member States work closely with
prison and probation/rehabilitation services to identify, disrupt
and deter violent radicalisers held in detention;

believes that

34.
the delivery of such projects should be
co-ordinated regionally with the police and police agencies and
monitored by local and regional authorities or equivalent,
reporting back to the central state to assess development;

35.
considers it essential that to support such projects, the
European Union, Member States and police should develop EU
networks — including policing units accountable to regions
with powers to protect persons and property, and counter-
terrorist units — to establish best practice, guidance, support
and training for practitioners responsible for local delivery;

Civic engagement and leadership

36.
recognises that the leadership role of local and regional
authorities is critical to the delivery of prevention of terrorism
strategies across Member States;

37.
recommends that local and regional authorities should
increase the capacity of the community to resist violent extre-
mists through providing strong leadership. Therefore recom-
mends that authorities should seek to:

— demonstrate

shared values

communities,
working with community groups, partnerships and leaders
to build community cohesion;

across

local

— facilitate ways

to rebut, or acknowledge and address,
grievances that can contribute towards alienation and moti-
vations towards violent extremism;

— effectively address hate crime by working closely with police

and community support projects;

— provide a community mediation role when security opera-

tions are under way;

— provide support and guidance to community groups and
extremist

to challenge

violent

organisations working
ideology;

recognises that terminology is a complex and sensitive
31.
issue, and requires considerable knowledge and exploration by
those managing counter radicalisation initiatives;

recommends that Member States and regional authorities
32.
support vulnerable local
institutions such as schools, further
education centres, universities, mosques and religious institu-
tions to identify violent radicalising activities on campus, to
disrupt radicalisers and support those vulnerable to violent radi-
calisation in resisting extremist voices by providing positive and
compelling alternatives;

38.
believes that a transparent and accountable police service
is fundamental to building trust and confidence in policing
counter terrorism and generating public support for counter
terrorist operations and national and local interventions to chal-
lenge violent extremism. Therefore CoR proposes that both
Member States and regional authorities responsible for enforce-
ment and protection of persons and property and with counter-
terrorism units or commands consider ways in which account-
ability of policing can be strengthened locally, seeking support
and learning from European and international partners where
appropriate;

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39.
calls upon the Commission to propose ways in which it
can support Member States to consider how counter terrorist
policing can be mainstreamed across the policing service, facili-
tating learning between Member States and forces where appro-
priate;

40.
recognises the importance of a police service that reflects
the diversity of the population it serves in building trust and
confidence and opening positive channels of communication
between the police and the public. CoR therefore believes that
positive discussions to promote diversity and equality of oppor-
tunity across policing should be facilitated at a local level across
Member States;

Preparedness and civil contingencies

welcomes the second peer review of crisis management

41.
plans currently being carried out by the Commission;

42.
however calls upon the Commission to ensure that local
and regional authorities play a full and active role in the review.
Learning from a review into the July 2005 London bombings, it
should ensure that a clear division of responsibility and chain of
command is established as a matter of urgency between
different agencies and bodies called upon to prepare contin-
gency plans and provide emergency services;

Brussels, 8 October 2008.

firmly supports the establishment of networks of associa-
43.
tions providing support
terrorist attacks and
recognises the role of the CoR in facilitating learning across
Member States;

for victims of

welcomes plans to provide support

44.
to research and
develop technical solutions to assist in the policing effort across
the Union to protect citizens from terrorist attacks; calls upon
the Union to support technological solutions across the four
pillars, including making the internet a hostile place for extre-
mists expanding developments outside law enforcement alone.
CoR therefore calls upon Member States to provide adequate
resources for such development projects;

calls upon Member States

45.
to set up coordination
mechanisms in line with the law enforcement powers of local
and regional authorities so that, within their remit, they may
ensure public safety in crowded places, particularly in relation to
designing out terrorism through planning processes;

46.
calls upon the Union to ensure that all counter terrorist
policy has direct consideration for equality and human rights
and ensures that interventions do not result in a negative experi-
ence for certain communities fuelling alienation and motivations
towards extremism.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE