Prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist attacks

The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the own-initiative report drafted by Jaime MAYOR OREJA (EPP-ED, ES) on preventing, preparing for and responding to terrorist attacks. The main recommendations are as follows:

As regards prevention:

- convert the existing list of exhaustive and generic anti-terrorist initiatives into a comprehensive and coherent European political project for fighting terrorism at its roots, both in and outside the Union;

- support and, if necessary, create new instruments to enable exchange of information between intelligence services regarding terrorist organisations and their modus operandi, while respecting data protection principles;

- monitor the role played by financial institutions in the transfer of money in order to prevent suspicious financial flows from being used to fund terrorist activities;

- create a forum for the exchange of information between all the European institutions aimed at furthering the  exchange not of operational information but of data on the strategy and modus operandi of terrorist organisations and the Union’s efforts to fight these organisations;

- conduct preventive action based on a dialogue between cultures and religions with a view to promoting mutual awareness and understanding;

- encourage the increasing specialisation of Europol and Eurojust in the fight against terrorism;

- promote European legislation designed to provide maximum control over the diversion and stockpiling of chemical precursors which may be used in the manufacture of explosives.

As regards response:

- further develop the protocols and measures to be applied automatically after an attack;

- provide the Office of the European Anti-Terrorist Coordinator with the resources it needs in order to coordinate a response to a terrorist attack;

- creation of a European Unitto Aid Victims of Terrorism based at the Commission, as a reference and contact point vis-à-vis the EU institutions;

- consolidation of the pilot project for aiding victims of terrorism by creating a permanent budget heading;

- support Community programmes offering protection for victims who are witnesses of terrorist acts.

This recommendation is part of a package of seven recommendations to the Council suggesting the next steps to be taken as part of the Action Plan against Terrorism, which is to be reviewed by the European Council at the summit on 16-17 June. (See also CNS/2004/0812, CNS/2004/0069, INI/2004/2214, INI/2005/2044, INI/2005/2065, and INI/2005/2046.)