Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (CETS No 217). Additional Protocol

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Helga STEVENS (ECR, BE) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism.

The committee recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the draft Council decision.

The Additional Protocol (Convention No. 217) supplements the Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (Convention No. 196) with a series of provisions aimed at implementing the criminal law aspects of UN Security Council Resolution 2178(2014) on “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”.

It aim to prevent and curb the flow of foreign terrorist fighters to conflict zones by promoting a common understanding of and response to foreign terrorist fighter-related offences, which serves as a benchmark for information exchange and facilitates cross-border investigations and prosecutions of acts of a preparatory nature having the potential and danger of leading to the commission of terrorist offences. 

The Additional Protocol obliges Parties to designate a contact point for the 24/7 exchange of information on foreign terrorist fighters. It is proposed to designate Europol as this contact point.