Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces
Date: 2018-07-04
Institutions: Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs, European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU financing, European security, action programme, airport, area of freedom, security and justice, cross-border cooperation, fight against crime, public safety, public transport, urban area








C_2018387EN.01000501.xml










25.10.2018   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 387/5






Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces
(2018/C 387/02)












Rapporteur:



Jean-François BARNIER (FR/ALDE), Mayor of Chambon-Feugerolles





Reference document:



COM(2017) 612 final









POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Comments









1.


notes that the attacks that have been carried out in recent years, both in public spaces and in private locations that are accessible to the public, have resulted in hundreds of deaths in many European cities. Their severity and widespread occurrence throughout the EU are unprecedented. They are characterised by varying degrees of organisational sophistication (number, profiles, background, nationality of perpetrators and accomplices, isolated, simultaneous or consecutive and planned or spontaneous actions), the diverse range of methods (explosive devices, firearms, knives, and other objects, such as vehicles, that are used as weapons) and by the locations targeted, which may be entirely unexpected or symbolic. They have targeted all those spaces in which daily life unfolds, which are entirely or for the most part open and shared, and which are busy and therefore particularly vulnerable to criminal activity: so-called ‘soft targets’.












2.


notes that national security remains the responsibility of the Member States but underlines also that cooperation with EU and non EU partners is essential; welcomes the involvement and commitment of the security and armed forces, the judicial authorities, the emergency and assistance services, elected representatives and civil society in the face of terrorism; highlights in this context the importance of mobilisation by local elected officials in increasing public awareness and in trying to prevent terrorism through social integration and re-building communities after terrorist attacks;












3.


considers that the Commission’s action plan, which aims to improve protection of public spaces, fits in well with the European Agenda on Security (and the 2016 Communication from the Commission on its implementation ‘to fight against terrorism and pave the way towards an effective and genuine Security Union’) and the Internal Security Strategy adopted for the period 2015-2020, as well as with the EU’s strategy for combating terrorism;












4.


stresses that efforts to combat terrorism, manage legal migration and prevent violent radicalisation remain essentially the responsibility of the Member States, but that local, European and international cooperation is also of crucial importance in addressing the issue effectively (1). Therefore calls for greater sharing of information and best practices within the EU;












5.


notes that certain ‘hard targets’ were taken into account in the energy and transport sectors by the 2006 European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection and the 2008 Directive on ‘identifying and designating European critical infrastructures’ and assessing the need to ‘[improve] their protection’;












6.


notes that the plan in question lists the funding and mechanisms for sharing best practices and feedback that are already in place and puts forward new suggestions that involve both local and national authorities in the Member States to a greater or lesser extent and welcomes that it promotes the understanding of the added value of EU-level cooperation in protecting citizens and critical infrastructures;





Priorities









7.


reiterates the EU’s aim, as set out in Article 3(2) TEU, which is to offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, in which the free movement of people is guaranteed in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls, asylum, immigration and the prevention and combating of crime;












8.


points to both the letter and the spirit of the solidarity clause contained in Article 222 TFEU, which calls for the EU to mobilise all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources made available by the Member States, in order to: prevent a terrorist attack within their borders; protect democratic institutions and the civilian population from a potential terrorist attack; and assist a Member State on its own territory, at the request of that state’s political authorities, in the event of a terrorist attack;












9.


stresses that the operational measures, coordination actions and guidelines set out in the action plan are inseparable from the EU’s policies, actions and instruments, including judicial cooperation in criminal matters, police cooperation, civil protection and crisis management, and preventing radicalisation;












10.


stresses that a balance must be maintained between preserving individual and collective freedoms including the protection of personal data and the aim to maintain open societies and accessible public spaces on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the possible restriction of these freedoms in cases where this is necessary, lawful, proportionate, appropriate to the circumstances, measured, reversible and limited in space and time;












11.


calls on the EU institutions to build resilience to terrorism, both individual and collective, institutional and civic, European, national and local, moral and material, in order to anticipate, prevent, protect, handle, respond to and prevail over this threat;












12.


recommends that any partnership with the private sector and any initiative or participation on the part of citizens in the area of security be overseen and monitored by a public authority at national, regional or local level;












13.


calls on the Commission to simplify and increase access to EU funds for non-state actors, open them up to local authorities of all sizes, and ensure that they are used efficiently and that relevant links are established with national, regional and local security funding;












14.


supports the aim of the plan, which is to promote, raise awareness about, facilitate and contribute to effective protection of public spaces by means of planning, design, construction, refurbishment and renovation, whatever their function, layout or use. This includes any appropriate method for filtering or blocking people, objects or vehicles, containing or evacuating victims or facilitating rescue operations and subsequent investigations;





Making public spaces safer









15.


welcomes the new funding from the Internal Security Fund (ISF Police), amounting to a total of EUR 18,5 million, aimed at supporting ‘transnational projects to improve the protection of public spaces’ and ‘cooperation projects’;












16.


calls on the Commission to continue this funding, paying particular attention to projects promoted by local and regional authorities and giving preference to innovative projects designed with a view to disseminating them further;












17.


shares the concern that local authorities need to be made aware of the vulnerability of public spaces and the supports the call to the Member States, regions and cities to incorporate the protection of public spaces into the infrastructure investment carried out under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund;












18.


encourages the EU institutions to facilitate and support local ‘smart/safe city’ projects;












19.


welcomes the new financing under the ERDF’s Urban Innovative Actions initiative, amounting to EUR 100 million in total, which will be launched by the Commission in October 2018;












20.


notes that the EU’s urban agenda or ‘Pact of Amsterdam’ of 30 May 2016 aims to involve urban authorities in the design and implementation of European policies and to strengthen their urban dimension. It contributes to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, in particular goal 11, ‘Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ as well as the ‘New Urban Agenda’ under Habitat III;





Applied research to secure public spaces









21.


notes that under the theme of ‘cooperation’, the Seventh Framework Programme for Research contains ten priority areas, including security, and that the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation sets out three key priorities: ‘Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership, and Societal Challenges’. Under the latter, research and innovation are geared to addressing the significant societal challenges facing Europe, rather than just the science or technology sectors. These challenges include ‘secure societies’, that are ‘protecting the freedom and security of Europe and its citizens’; to date, 48 security research projects on the protection of public spaces have been funded, amounting to a total of EUR 195 million;





Forums for exchanging expertise and best practice









22.


supports the creation of a working group on the protection of soft targets in order to enhance cooperation and coordination among Member States in the following two areas:






—


the practitioners’ forum (law enforcement professionals from the Member States and police forces set up by the European Union, such as AIRPOL, ATLAS, ENLETS RAILPOL) supplemented by a ‘network of high-risk public spaces’ which will provide a platform for joint training and exercises,










—


the ‘Operators’ Forum’ and its thematic groups (sporting or cultural events, etc.), bringing together private operators of spaces or organisers of events, such as transport operators, sport or entertainment operators, shopping centres,




and calls for local authority representatives, who are on the front line when it comes to preventing attacks, to be involved in this working group;












23.


welcomes the fact that the EU Conference of Mayors took place on 8 March 2018 in Brussels, involving among others the signatories of the Declaration of Nice, on the theme Building urban defences against terrorism: Lessons learned from recent attacks;












24.


encourages the development and implementation of a ‘best practice security guidance toolkit for the commercial road transport sector’, an ‘EU soft target site assessment tool’, which is currently being tested, as well as ongoing work on the EU rules to ensure the safety and security of civilian-operated unmanned aircraft systems;












25.


finally, endorses the plan’s aim to encourage networking between both national and local practitioners and policymakers, as well as exchanges of best practice, by means of targeted financial support, guidelines and the involvement of local stakeholders and the private sector.





Brussels, 4 July 2018.


The President of the European Committee of the Regions

Karl-Heinz LAMBERTZ




(1)  CoR opinion on Combatting radicalisation and violent extremism: prevention mechanisms at local and regional level (CoR 6329/2015), June 2016