During the State of the union address, the President of the European Commission has announced a set of operational and practical measures to better defend european citizens against terrorist threats and deliver a Europe that protects.
The measures aim to address vulnerabilities exposed by recent attacks and will support Member states in protecting public spaces and help deprive terrorists of the means to act.
The European Union is also proposing to further strengthen the European’s external action on counter-terrorism and is recommending the European union open negotiations on a revised passenger name record agreement with Canada.
The first european vice- President said:
“We will never give in to terrorists who attack our security and our freedoms. Europeans demand that national governments and the European union tackle these risks with determination.
The new actions announced will help Member states to deprive terrorists of the means to carry out their evil acts and will also better protect our public spaces, and thus our way of life”
The commission for migration, home affairs and citizenship said:
“Terrorism knows no borders. We will only be able to fight it effectively if we do so jointly – both within the European Union and with our partners on a global scale. Effective exchange of information such as passenger name records is critical for the security of our citizens, which is why we recommend to the Council to authorise negotiations for a revised agreement with Canada and why we will propose to have international agreements between Europol and key countries. We will also continue working with our Member States to create a future European intelligence unit”
The commissioner for the security union said:
“Sadly there can never be zero risk of terrorism, but we are continuing to cut the space terrorists have to prepare and carry out their crimes. As terrorist tactics change, we are stepping up our support to Member states in meeting these threats: helping protect the public spaces where people gather, while cutting off terrorists’ access to dangerous bomb-making materials, and sources of finance”