On Tuesday 10 February in Strasbourg, the main political groups at the EP reached an agreement on resuming work on this dossier, which has been blocked at the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) since 2013. In an amendment signed by the EPP, S&D, ALDE and ECR, a commitment was made to concluding the European PNR “by the end of the year”.
These four groups produced a common resolution on anti-terrorist measures, put to a vote this Wednesday. The joint resolution was approved by 532 votes to 136, with 36 abstentions.
The main points of the joint resolution are:
- Counter-terrorism measures must not compromise fundamental rights
MEPs pledge to work „towards the finalisation of an EU PNR directive by the end of the year” and encourage member states to make progress on the Data Protection Package, so that negotiations on both proposals can take place in parallel. They aim to ensure that data collection and sharing is based on a coherent data protection framework offering legally-binding personal data protection standards across the EU. They also urge the Commission to assess the consequences of the EU Court of Justice’s annulment of the Data Retention Directive and to seek independent experts’ views on the „necessity and proportionality” of the PNR proposal.
- Tackling the growing threat posed by “EU foreign fighters”
MEPs call for a “multi-layer” approach to tackle radicalisation, calling on member states to: invest in educational and social schemes that address the root causes of radicalisation, counterbalance
online incitement to perform terrorist acts, prevent recruitment and departures to join terrorist organisations, disrupt financial support to terrorist organisations and trafficking of firearms, and set up “disengagement and de-radicalisation” programmes.
- Stepping up checks at external borders
MEPs call on member states to prevent the movement of terrorist suspects by strengthening external border checks. They rule out any proposals to suspend the Schengen system, but encourage member states to tighten up existing rules and make better use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the Advanced Passenger Information Systems (APIS).
- Improving cooperation and information sharing
Member states should improve the exchange of information between law enforcement authorities and EU agencies. In particular, they should ensure that their national units provide Europol with the relevant information. They point out that only 50% of information regarding terrorism and organised crime is currently given by member states to Europol and Eurojust.
The adopted joint resolution will be available under the following link: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/texts-adopted.html
