Combating terrorism in the European Union

The rapporteur, Mrs Reding (EPP, LU), expressed her disappointment that the promises of action following each terrorist attack were not being fulfilled. Condemning terrorism as an unjustified criminal act, the rapporteur warned against exceptional laws and procedures which would end up glorifying this violence instead of halting it. Mrs Reding argued for a true prevention policy not only in political and technical terms but also with regard to police cooperation. In this respect, not only did Europol need to get up and running but cooperation and the exchange of information between the various police forces, regardless of the existence of criminal proceedings, needed to be stepped up. The rapporteur then called for the Convention on extradition to be ratified and declared her opposition to political asylum between Member States. Finally, she called for families falling victim to terrorist acts to benefit from public assistance both materially and psychologically. Commissioner Gradin welcomed the results of European police cooperation which had allowed a number of terrorists to be arrested and their networks to be broken up. Cooperation with the Central and Eastern European Countries in the fight against organised crime had also allowed a number of results to be achieved. While stressing the need to better define the causes of terrorism, Mrs Gradin confirmed that she agreed with Parliament’s call to ratify the Europol Convention as quickly as possible and to conclude a Convention on extradition.