COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL Thirteenth progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union
Date: 2018-01-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: European security, area of freedom, security and justice, computer crime, cross-border cooperation, exchange of information, external border of the EU, extremism, fight against crime, organised crime, terrorism

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.1.2018 COM(2018) 46 final    COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL    Thirteenth progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union    
 
 
I. 

INTRODUCTION 

This is the thirteenth monthly report on the progress made towards building an effective and 
genuine Security Union and covers developments under two main pillars: tackling terrorism 
and  organised  crime  and  the  means  that  support  them;  and  strengthening  our  defences  and 
building resilience against those threats. 

The 14 December 2017 Joint Declaration on the EU's legislative priorities for 2018-2019,  
signed by the Presidents of the European Parliament, the rotating Council Presidency and the 
European  Commission  on  behalf  of  the  three  Institutions,  once  again  underlines  the  central 
importance  of  better  protecting  the  security  of  citizens1  by  placing  this  at  the  heart  of  the 
Union's legislative work. Priority is given to initiatives designed to ensure that Member States' 
authorities  know  who  is  crossing  the  common  EU  external  border,  to  establishing 
interoperable EU information systems for security, border and migration management, and to 
reinforcing the instruments in the fight against terrorism and against money laundering. 

This  report  sets  out  the  progress  made  in  delivering  the  legislative  priorities  related  to  the 
Security  Union.  The  Commission  will  continue  to  drive  progress  in  this  area,  in  close 
cooperation with all Institutions and in line with the Commission Work Programme 2018 that 
also prioritises this work.2 This work will feed into the informal Leaders' meeting on internal 
security in Vienna in September 2018 as announced in the Leaders' Agenda.3 

This report also sets out a number of actions the Commission will take to step up the support 
to  Member  States  in  countering  radicalisation  both  offline  and  online,  in  particular  by 
following  up  on  the  preliminary  findings  and  recommendations  of  the  High-Level  Expert 
Group  on  Radicalisation4  and  by  stepping  up  work  with  internet  platforms  against  terrorist 
content online. Preventing and countering radicalisation remains a key challenge for Member 
States that requires a joined up approach between governments and at local level. The Expert 
Group,  established  in  July  2017  to  elaborate  recommendations  for  future  work,  identified  a 
number of priority topics that require further action.  

Finally, this report also sets out the progress made in the implementation of other priority files 
in  the  Security  Union,  namely  on  cybersecurity,  the  protection  of  public  spaces,  security 
research and the external dimension of counter-terrorism. 

II. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES  

In the Joint Declaration on the EU's legislative priorities for 2018-2019, the three Institutions 
agree  to  give  priority  treatment  in  the  legislative  process  to  31  new  initiatives  for  a  more 
united, stronger and more democratic Union, with the aim to ensure substantial progress and, 
where  possible,  delivery  before  the  European  elections  of  2019.  Better  protecting  the 
security of our citizens is the first area listed in the working document attached to the Joint 
Declaration. 

1  
2  
3  
4  

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/publications/joint-declaration-eus-legislative-priorities-2018_en  
COM(2017) 650 final (24.10.2017). 
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/21594/leaders-agenda.pdf  
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=3552  

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Among the legislative priorities listed are the Commission proposals on interoperability5 of 
information systems for security, border and migration management, which were adopted in 
December  2017  and  on  which  work  has  now  started  in  the  European  Parliament  and  in 
Council.  The  Commission  presented  the  proposals  to  the  European  Parliament's  Committee 
on  Civil  Liberties,  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  (LIBE)  on  15  January  2018.  First  discussions 
took place at Council working group level. In view of the high priority given to this initiative, 
the Commission is working with the European Parliament and Council to progress as quickly 
as possible. As regards the work on closing information gaps, trilogues are ongoing between 
the co-legislators on the Commission's proposal to establish a European Travel Information 
and  Authorisation  System  (ETIAS).6  Given  the  importance  of  this  proposal,  also  in  the 
context  of  the  shared  objective  to  reach  swift  progress  on  interoperability,  the  Commission 
urges the co-legislators to reach an agreement in the coming weeks.  

As regards the work on maximising the benefits of existing information systems, trilogues are 
on-going  between  the  co-legislators  on  the  three  legislative  proposals  to  strengthen  the 
Schengen  Information  System  (SIS).7  The  Commission  urges  both  co-legislators  to  reach 
swift  agreement  on  these  proposals  as  an  important  step  towards  stronger  and  smarter 
information  systems  for  borders  and  security  and  their  interoperability.8  Concerning  the 
supplementary  Commission  proposal  to  facilitate  the  exchange  of  criminal  records  of  third-
country nationals in the EU through the European Criminal Records Information System 
(ECRIS)9, the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs 
(LIBE) is due to vote on its negotiating mandate on 25 January 2018. The Commissions calls 
on  both  co-legislators  to  reach  an  agreement  on  the  proposals  reforming  the  European 
Criminal  Records  Information  System  without  delay.  In  parallel  to  this  legislative  work, 
practical efforts to step up the exchange on information are yielding results. For example, 
Europol reports that over the course of 2017, more than one million SIENA messages were 
exchanged among Europol, Member States and third parties.10 The Commission continues to 
work  with  all  Member  States  on  the  full  implementation  and  application  of  existing 
information  systems,  notably  with  those  Member  States  that  are  still  at  an  insufficiently 
advanced stage of implementation of the EU Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive11 that 
needs to be fully implemented by 25 May 2018. 

In June 2017, the Commission presented a legislative proposal12 to strengthen the mandate of 
eu-LISA13, enabling the agency to ensure the technical implementation of the new approach 
to the management of data for borders and security. At its January 2018 Plenary session, the 

5  
6  
7  
8  

9  
10  

11  
12  
13  

COM(2017) 793 final and COM(2017) 794 final (12.12.2017). 
COM(2016) 731 final (16.11.2016). 
COM(2016) 881 final, 882 final and 883 final (21.12.2016). 
See  the  April  2016  Communication  on  'Stronger  and  Smarter  Information  Systems  for  Borders  and 
Security' (COM(2016) 205 final, 6.4.2016) and the Commission's approach to the management of data for 
borders and security as set out in the Seventh progress report towards an effective and genuine Security 
Union (COM2017) 261 final, 16.5.2017). 
COM(2017) 344 final (29.6.2017). 
https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/more-one-million-operational-messages-shared-between-
europol-member-states-and-third-parties-in-2017.  SIENA  is  the  Secure  Information  Exchange  Network 
Application,  managed  by  Europol  which  enables  a  swift  and  secure  communication  and  exchange  of 
operational and strategic crime-related information. 
Directive 2016/681 (27.4.2016). 
COM(2017) 352 final (29.6.2017).  
The European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, 
security and justice. 

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European  Parliament  adopted  its  mandate  to  enter  into  negotiation  on  the  Commission 
proposal, allowing for the start of the inter-institutional discussions. 

In  the  area  of  detecting  and  preventing  terrorist  financing,  the  Council  of  EU  and  the 
European  Parliament  reached  a  political  agreement  on  13  December  2017  on  the  EU 
Commission's  proposal  to  amend  the  Fourth  Anti-Money  Laundering  Directive  (so-
called the  5th  AMLD).14 The final  compromise text  still needs to  be formally  endorsed  by 
both institutions. The amended Directive may likely be published in the Official Journal of the 
EU by mid-2018, bringing the entry into force 18 months after its publication, i.e. by the end 
of  2019.  The  Directive  contains  several  new  measures  to  help  national  authorities  to  better 
track  illegal  financial  flows.  A  key  element  of  this  Directive  is  its  increase  in  transparency 
about who really owns companies and trusts and other legal arrangements by strenghtenning 
the  requirements  related  to  the  beneficial  ownership  registers.  The  register  on  beneficial 
owners of companies will be fully public, while the one on trusts and other legal arrangements 
will be fully accessible to the competent authorities and obliged entities (such as banks) and to 
any  member  of  the  public  who  can  prove  a  legitimate  interest  to  have  access  to  such 
information. The Directive also enhances the access of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) to 
relevant information, including land registries and to newly-created centralised bank account 
registers. It also increases the cooperation and facilitates the exchange of information between 
financial  supervisors  in  the  EU.  Another  key  element  of  the  Directive  is  the  important 
reduction  of  anonymity  surrounding  products  like  pre-paid  cards  and  virtual  currencies. 
Lastly, the Directive adds additional criteria, including transparency, for listing high-risk third 
countries, thereby ensuring a high level of safeguards for financial flows from high-risk third 
countries. 

Following  the  adoption  by  the  European  Parliament  of  its  position  on  11  December  2017 
regarding the Commission proposal for a Directive to harmonise the definition and criminal 
sanctions of money laundering15, the inter-institutional discussions have started on 17 January 
2018.  

In the area of cyber security, co-legislators are examining the Commission proposal16 for a 
Regulation  setting  out  a  new  mandate  for  the  EU  Agency  for  Network  and  Information 
Security (ENISA) and a European framework for certification ('Cybersecurity Act'). Several 
rounds  of  discussions  have  taken  place  at  Council  working  group  level.  The  European 
Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) held a first hearing on 27 
November  2017.  In  view  of  the  fast  evolving  cyber  threats,  the  Commission  urges  the  co-
legislators to continue work on the proposal as a matter of priority, with the view to reach an 
agreement by the end of the year. 

III. 

PREVENTION OF RADICALISATION  

1. 

High-Level Expert Group on Radicalisation 

The High-Level Expert Group on Radicalisation, established to step up efforts to prevent and 
counter  radicalisation  and  to  improve  coordination  and  cooperation  between  all  relevant 
stakeholders,  delivered  its  Interim  Report17  in  November  2017.  The  Justice  and  Home 

14  
15  
16  
17  

COM(2016) 450 final (5.7.2016). 
COM(2016) 826 final (21.12.2016). 
COM(2017) 477 final (13.9.2017). 
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetailDoc&id=36235&no=1 

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Affairs Council discussed the Expert Group's findings and recommendations on 7 December 
2017. In the Interim Report, the Expert Group highlights the work done on the prevention of 
radicalisation  at  EU  level,  in  particular  through  initiatives  such  as  the  Radicalisation 
Awareness  Network  (RAN), 
the  European  Strategic 
Communications Network (ESCN). The Interim Report calls for more systematic exchanges 
on  anti-radicalisation  between  Member  States,  practitioners  and  researchers  and  stronger 
support  structures  at  EU  level.  This  corresponds  to  the  findings  of  the  comprehensive 
assessment of EU security policies that highlighted a need for enhanced coordination of EU 
prevent work.18 

the  EU  Internet  Forum  and 

Following up the Interim Report, the Commission is working to step up existing initiatives on 
countering radicalisation, to strengthen the involvement of Member States and to establish a 
cooperation mechanism at EU level. The Commission will pursue a gradual approach and, as 
a first step, it will strengthen the coordination of prevent work at EU level. 

The  Commission  will  also  follow  up  on  the  Expert  Group's  recommendations  for  further 
action in a number of priority areas to match the scale and pace of the challenges posed by 
radicalisation. These recommendations will be implemented notably through the work of the 
Radicalisation Awareness Network Centre of Excellence, as reflected in its Annual Activity 
Plan  for  2018.  Morevoer,  in  order  to  promote  common  values  through  education,  the 
Commission  adopted  on  17  January  2018  a  specific  Recommendation  that  asks  Member 
States to take further steps to strengthen critical thinking, media literacy and shared values to 
consolidate a stronger sense of belonging at local and national level.19 

One priority area highlighted by the Expert Group is radicalisation in prisons which remains 
a major concern. The Commission will strengthen the exchange of best practices and targeted 
research and explore with Member States the organisation of peer reviews of de-radicalisation 
programmes  using  the  Radicalisation  Awareness  Network.  On  27  February  2018,  the 
Commission  will  organise,  in  cooperation  with  the  Bulgarian  Presidency,  the  European 
Organisation  of  Prison  and  Correctional  Services  (EUROPRIS)  and  the  Confederation  of 
European Probation, a conference to exchange best practice between judges, prosecutors and 
prison and probation staff on radicalisation in prisons. The Commission will also continue to 
provide, under its Justice Programme, action grants to support projects in this area, including 
projects related to judicial training of judges, prosecutors, prison and probation staff. Building 
on  exchanges  with  practitioners,  Member  States'  policy  makers  and  public  actors,  the 
Radicalisation  Awareness  Network  Centre  of  Excellence  is  preparing  a  new  edition  of  its 
handbook  on  countering  radicalisation  in  prisons  and  probation  practices  setting  out  new 
practices. 

There is  also a need  to  increase efforts to  counter  terrorist propaganda. In  addition to  the 
work  on  countering  online  radicalisation  (see  section  below),  the  European  Strategic 
Communications  Network  and  the  Radicalisation  Awareness  Network  Centre  of  Excellence 
provide  support  to  Member  States  through  the  exchange  of  best  practice  on  alternative  and 
counter narratives and the stepping up of their capacity for strategic communication responses 
to terrorist narratives. 

18  

19  

See the Ninth Progress Report Towards an Effective and Genuine Security Union (COM(2017) 407 final 
of 26.7.2017) and the annexed Commission Staff Working Document (SWD(2017) 278 final). 
COM (2018)23 final (17 January 2018). 

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To strengthen support for action at local level, the Commission will look into existing support 
structures  and  multi-agency  approaches,  with  a  view  to  identify  good  practices  for  local 
cooperation in areas such as information sharing protocols or vetting of civil society partners. 
Experiences  of  EU  funded  projects,  study  visits  and  dedicated  workshops  of  the 
Radicalisation Awareness Network's Local Working Group will feed into this overview. The 
Radicalisation  Awareness  Network  stands  ready  to  offer  targeted  counselling  services  to 
support efforts to counter radicalisation at local and national level. 

Another priority area is the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters returning from conflict 
zones.  Following the territorial losses of Daesh in Syria and Iraq, there is much debate among 
experts  and  in  the  wider  public  on  how  to  deal  with  challenges  such  as  those  posed  by 
children  and  families  returning  from  conflict  zones  or  were  raised  in  a  radicalised 
environment.  The  Commission  will  organise,  together  with  the  Bulgarian  Presidency,  a 
conference  in  Sofia  in  April  2018  to  exchange  related  best  practices  and  lessons  learned 
among  Member  States  in  dealing  with  returnees,  including  women  and  children.  Moreover, 
given  the  need  for  tailored  responses  to  address  the  situation  of  children  in  the  context  of 
returnees,  the  Commission  will  conduct  a  comparative  analysis  of  existing  approaches  on 
risks and needs assessment as well as early detection. At the same time, cooperation with third 
countries,  in  particular  Turkey,  and  international  bodies,  including  the  UN  and  the  Global 
Counterterrorism Forum, is crucial. 

Acknowledging  the  nexus  between  internal  and  external  security,  the  Commission  will,  in 
cooperation  with  European  External  Action  Service,  increase  its  support  for  prevent 
strategies  and  cooperation  mechanisms  in  partner  countries  outside  the  EU.  It  will 
establish a pool of EU experts and partners suited for external  deployment and will support 
the  establishment  of  a  Civil  Society  Organisations  platform  that  will  function  as  a  hub  for 
action to prevent radicalisation outside the EU. In 2018, the Commission will launch several 
calls supporting local research on drivers to violent extremism in priority regions. 

2. 

Countering terrorist content online 

As  set  out  in  the  Commission  Work  Programme  for  2018  and  in  previous  Security  Union 
reports,  the  Commission  is  promoting  cooperation  with  platforms  to  detect  and  remove 
terrorist and other illegal content online, and if necessary will propose legislation on removing 
terrorist content. On 9 January 2018, the Commission convened a roundtable with high-level 
representatives  from  online  platforms  to  discuss  progress  made  in  tackling  the  spread  of 
illegal content online. The Commission urged the platforms to enhance and accelerate the 
progress  achieved  so  far  and  the  resources  invested,  in  order  to  better  protect  EU  citizens. 
The  Commission  is  counting  on  online  platforms  to  step  up  and  speed  up  their  efforts, 
covering amongst others closer cooperation with national and international law enforcement 
authorities, increased sharing of know-how between online players, further action against the 
reappearance  of  removed  illegal  content,  the  speed  of  removals  and  further  investment  for 
automated detection tools, in line with the Commission communication of September 2017. 20 
The  Commission  is  working  on  new  ways  to  track  progress  through  specific  indicators,  as 
well  as  to  make  existing  dialogues  more  focused  and  concrete.  The  EU  Internet  Forum  is 
developing a specific reporting mechanism with indicators for the removal of terrorist content, 
on the basis of which internet platforms were requested to submit information in view of the  
Forum's next Senior Officials' Meeting in February 2018. 

20  

COM(2017) 555 final (28.9.2017). 

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The Commission is also now looking into more specific steps which could be swiftly taken 
to improve the response to terrorist content online, before the Commission takes a decision on 
whether legislation will be required.  

IV. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF OTHER PRIORITY FILES ON SECURITY  

1. 

Cybersecurity 

The  Commission  continues,  in  cooperation  with  the  European  External  Action  Service,  to 
implement  the  actions  set  out  in  the  September  2017  Joint  Communication21  on  Resilience, 
Deterrence  and  Defence:  Building  strong  cybersecurity  for  the  EU.  The  Commission  is 
consulting  stakeholders  and  is  working  towards  an  Impact  Assessment  for  a  legislative 
proposal  to  establish  a  Network  of  Cybersecurity  Competence  Centres  with  a  European 
Cybersecurity  Research  and  Competence  Centre  at  its  heart.  This  is  in  line  with  the 
November  2017  Council  Conclusions  on  the  Joint  Communication  that  calls  on  the 
Commission  to  present  the  legislative  proposal  by  mid-2018.  The  Commission  has  also 
started a mapping exercise of competences across the EU. The Commission's research will be 
supplemented by the results of a self-registration survey launched on 10 January 2018.22 The 
Commission  invites  all  interested  cybersecurity  centres  across  the  EU  to  share  information 
about their competences and activities. Finally, the Commission has acted on its commitment 
to launch a pilot project of EUR 50 million under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme to 
support  the  creation  of  the  network  of  competence  centres.  The  Commission  submitted  to 
Member  States  a  proposal  of  an  amendment  of  the  2018-2020  Work  Programme  and  is 
planning to launch a call from proposals in the first quarter of 2018. 

In September 2017, the Commission proposed23 to boost deterrence through new measures to 
combat fraud and the counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment. The proposed Directive 
will strengthen the ability of law enforcement authorities to tackle this form of crime and will 
also introduce common rules on the level of penalties and clarify the scope of Member States' 
jurisdiction  in  such  offences.  The  Commission  calls  on  the  co-legislators  to  adopt  their 
negotiation mandates to allow inter-institutional discussions to start on the proposal, with the 
view to reach an agreement by the end of the year. 

In  October 2017  the  Commission  set  out  a  set  of  measures  to  support  law  enforcement  and 
judicial authorities when they encounter the use of encryption by criminals. In line with this, 
in the 12th Security Union Progress Report, the Commission undertook to report on the funds 
made  available  to  support  law  enforcement  when  they  encounter  encryption  in  criminal 
investigations.24 Considering Member States' call for further support at the Justice and Home 
Affairs  Council  in  December  2017,  the  Commission  will  amend  the  2018  Europol  budget 
with  an  additional EUR 5 million to reinforce Europol's capabilitites to decrypt  information 
lawfully obtained in criminal investigations. As announced in October 2017, there is a need 
for continuous assessment of technical and legal aspects of the role of encryption in criminal 
investigations  given  the  constant  development  of  encryption  techniques,  their  increased  use 
by  criminals  and  the  effect  on  criminal  investigations.  The  Commission  will  continue  this 
important work. 

21  
22  
23  
24  

JOIN(2017) 450 final (13.9.2017). 
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/cybersecurity-survey. 
COM(2017) 489 final (13.9.2017). 
COM(2017) 779 final (12.12.2017). 

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Last  autumn,  the  European  External  Action  Service,  in  cooperation  with  the  Commission, 
held  Cyber  Dialogues  with  China,  India,  the  US  and  Brazil  where  the  implementation  of 
cyber  norms,  cyber  security  confidence  building  measures,  application  of  existing 
international law in cyberspace, and internal cyber policies of the EU and the partners were 
discussed. In addition, progress has been made on cyber capacity building in third countries. 
On cyber defence, the Cyber Defence Policy Framework implementation report was adopted 
by the Political and Security Committee. The annual EU-NATO high level staff-to-staff cyber 
consultations  took  place  on  8  December  2017,  concentrating  on  the  implementation  of  the 
cyber actions under the Joint Declaration. In December 2017, the European External Action 
Service  also  held  an  exercise  with  the  Member  States  to  operationalise  the  Implementation 
Guidelines  of  the  EU  Framework  for  Joint  Diplomatic  Response  to  Cyber  Attacks  by  state 
and non-state actors.  

2. 

Protection of public spaces 

The Commission is implementing the Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces25 
as  a  matter  of  priority,  in  line  with  the  Commission  Work  Programme  for  2018.  On  20 
December 2017, the Commission organised the first meeting of the EU Operators' Forum 
bringing  together  public  authorities  and  private  operators  of  various  public  spaces  such  as 
transport  areas,  exhibition  centres,  stadiums,  hospitals,  shopping  centres,  and  entertainment 
sectors. The aim of the Forum is to promote public-private cooperation on the protection of 
public  spaces  by  sharing  lessons  learned  and  good  practices,  exchange  information, 
encouraging  cross-sector  learning  and  developing  guidance.  This  covers  activities  such  as 
detection,  testing  of  new  technology  and  security  solutions,  developing  standards  and 
performing risk and vulnerability assessments. All participants underlined the importance of 
developing  a  genuine  public-private  partnership,  both  at  EU  and  national  level  and  need  to 
pursue work in dedicated meetings addressing specific sectors such as transport, mass events 
and  entertainment,  hospitality  or  commerce.  Back-to-back  with  the  first  meeting  of  the  EU 
Operators' Forum, and taking into account the fact that a number of terrorist attacks involved 
rental vehicles, the Commission also organised a meeting with the car rental industry on 21 
December  2017.  The  operators  agreed  with  Member  States  on  the  importance  of  further 
awareness raising so that staff are equipped with the tools and skills to recognise suspicious 
rentals  from  a  counter-terrorism  perspective.  The  Commission  will  establish  a  portal  to 
facilitate sharing of good practices in this area. 

The Action Plan calls for establishing a close dialogue with regional and local authorities. 
To that end, the Commission and the Committee of the Regions are organising a conference 
in Brussels on the 8 March to bring together mayors from a large number of European cities, 
including those cities that were hit by terrorist attacks, in order to facilitate the exchange on 
the  protection  of  public  spaces.  The  conference  will  draw  lessons  from  recent  attacks  and 
identify best practices emerging in cities across the Union. It will also take stock of ongoing 
or planned pilot projects and aims to identify how EU funding can best support these efforts. 

Funding is indeed an important aspect of the support for the protection of public spaces. The 
launch  of  the  Action  Plan  was  accompanied  by  calls  for  proposals  through  the  Internal 
Security Fund Police for a total amount of EUR 18.5 million, as well as, for the longer term, 
the  announcement  of  additional  funding  of  up  to  EUR  100  million  under  Urban  Innovative 

25  

COM(2017) 612 final (18.10.2017). 

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Actions (UIA)26 as part of the European Regional Development Fund. Following the end of 
the  public  consultation  launched  on  15  September  2017,  a  workshop  with  stakeholders  was 
organised  by  the  Commission  in  Brussels  on  18  January  2018  on  the  urban  perspective  of 
security  in  public  spaces.  Participants  discussed  the  main  security  issues  in  cities  and 
responses  to  be  provided  at  local  level  with  representatives  from  national  and  local 
governments,  European  networks,  academics  and  researchers,  NGOs  and  other  international 
institutions.  The  results  of  this  workshop  will  contribute  to  define  the  scope  of  actions  in 
relation to the Urban Innovative Actions and the Urban Agenda for the EU. 

Furthermore the Commission is taking action to address the security risks to the commercial 
road  transport  sector.  A  security  toolkit  is  being  published  in  January  2018  to  provide 
operational  guidance  to  help  European  truck  drivers,  haulage  companies  and  other  key 
stakeholders  to  address  cargo  theft,  stowaway  entry  to  trucks,  and  possible  threats  from 
terrorism. It also updates and upgrades contemporary good security practices that are rapidly 
becoming outdated amid a constantly evolving threat, emerging technologies, and regulatory 
changes. 

3. 

Security research 

With  a  research  and  innovation  budget  of  EUR  1  billion,  the  Security  Union  is  one  of  four 
focus areas under the 2018-2020 work programme for Horizon 2020, which represents 50% 
of  overall  public  funding  for  security  research  in  the  EU.  Research  on  security  threats  will 
underpin  a  coordinated  EU  response,  and  mitigate  risks  linked  to  terrorism,  serious  crime, 
border security, cybercrime, hybrid threats, and other areas. 

Within  the  Community  of  Users  for  Security  and  Resilient  Societies,  the  Commission 
organised  two  workshops  in  December  2017  on  projects  related  to  radicalisation  and  on 
projects  related  to  cybercrime.  The  workshop  on  anti-radicalisation  brought  together 
participants of relevant research projects under the Framework Programme 7, Horizon 2020 
(security research) and the Internal Security Fund-Police programme, as well as members of 
the  Radicalisation  Awareness  Network.  It  allowed  identifying  areas  for  synergies  where 
security  research  can  support  in  EU  action  to  counter  radicalisation.  The  workshop  on 
cybercrime  brought  together  participants  of  related  research  projects,  the  European 
Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol and representatives of two law enforcement networks of 
practitioners  that  had  been  established  last  year  under  Horizon  2020  to  improve  research 
market uptake. The workshop allowed a number of projects to present their results in various 
areas  of  cybercrime,  such  as  digital  forensics  and  evidence,  financially  motivated  malware, 
virtual currencies, detection of terrorist content online or big data analysis. 

4. 

External dimension of counter-terrorism 

The  EU  has  currently  a  network  of  counter-terrorism/security  experts  posted  to  13  EU 
Delegations  in  third  countries.  This  network  has  been  delivering  real  added-value  by 
providing the crucial link between the EU's external and the internal security and represents 
an important part of the EU support to third countries in the fight against terrorism. The June 
2017 Council Conclusions on EU external action in this area acknowledged the value of the 
work done by the EU experts on the ground and called for broadening of the geographic and 
functional  scope  of  the    network.  This  decision  was  taken  on  18  January  2018  by  the  High 

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Representative  of  the  Union  for  Foreign  Affairs  and  Security  Policy/Vice-President  of  the 
Commission (HR/VP). Four new experts will soon be sent to the following EU Delegations: 
the EU Mission to ASEAN based in Jakarta with geographic coverage of South East Asia, the 
EU Delegation in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan with geographic coverage of Central Asian countries, 
the EU Delegation in Nairobi, Kenya with geographic coverage of the Horn of Africa, and the 
EU Delegation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to liaise with the African Union and its regional and 
functional institutions. 

V. 

CONCLUSION 

This report sets out the progress made in delivering the security-related initiatives identified in 
the  Joint  Declaration  on  the  EU's  legislative  priorities  for  2018-2019.  Delivering  these 
initiatives will be of key importance for completing an effective and genuine Security Union, 
better protecting the security of our citizens. 

This report also provides an update on a number of actions taken at EU level across various 
policy  areas  to  enhance  internal  security,  in  particular  actions  to  step  up  the  support  for 
Member  States'  efforts  to  counter  radicalisation  at  national  and  local  level,  reflecting  the 
interim  recommendations  of 
the  High-Level  Expert  Group  on  Radicalisation.  The 
Commission  calls  on  all  actors  involved  to  pursue  this  work  as  a  matter  of  priority, 
cooperating  across  sectors  and  policy  levels  and  sharing  best  practices  in  order  to  address 
radicalisation as a shared challenge. 

The Commission will continue to report regularly on the progress made towards building an 
effective and genuine Security Union. 

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