103 Amendments of Christian EHLER related to 2018/2044(INI)
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the national security and intelligence agencies of EU Member States and of some third countries cooperate very effectively through the Counter Terrorism Group (CTG) and on a bilateral and multilateral basis; whereas the EU has an established complex of structures dealing wholly or in part with terrorism, notably through Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC), EU INTCEN and facilitated by the European Counter- Terrorism Coordinator;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the diverse landscape of regional, national, EU and international actors in the field of terrorism with overlapping competences and insufficiently delineated mandates, the multitude of formal and informal fora for cooperation and exchange of information, as well as the division of competences between the different regional and national agencies, between security, law enforcement services and intelligence services and between the EU and the Member States, give rise to difficulties with regard to the coordination and coherence of the response to the terrorist threat;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas on 6 July 2017 the Parliament set up a temporary Special Committee on Terrorism (TERR) with the aim of providing Parliament’s view as to the practical and legislative gaps in the current counter-terrorism regime that have allowed the recent terrorist attacks in the EU to occur and making recommendations that would help tackle the terrorist threat at EU level;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
F b. whereas, in order to allow the Parliament to dedicate sufficient attention and the specific efforts necessary for contributing effectively and responding to the challenges posed by terrorism, a standing parliamentary committee responsible for internal security and terrorism should be set up within the Parliament; whereas the setting up of such a standing parliamentary committee will signal the Parliament’s engagement and understanding of the importance of the issues of internal security, international organised crime and terrorism, which are at the forefront of EU citizens’ concerns; whereas it will also reflect the significance of this issue for the Parliament and will mirror the institutional setup in other EU institutions and bodies, such as the creation of a Security Union Task Force and the appointment of a Commissioner for the Security Union within the Commission, the creation of a European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) within Europol, as well as the existence of a Working Party on Terrorism within the Council;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas of 88 legally binding counter-terrorism measures proposed from September 2001 to summer 2013 only a quarter were subject to impact assessments and only three to public consultation1a; whereas this ratio has improved in recent years and the most recent initiatives presented by the Commission in 2017 and 2018 were accompanied by the necessary justification; whereas with the Agenda on Better Regulation adopted in 2015 the Commission has also strengthened its policy on stakeholder consultation; __________________ 1a Study on The European Union’s Policies on Counter-Terrorism: Relevance, Coherence and Effectiveness, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, PE 583.124, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/e tudes/STUD/2017/583124/IPOL_STU(201 7)583124_EN.pdf
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas in recent years the EU Member States have suffered major terrorist attacks, perpetrated, supported or inspired by terrorist jihadist groups such as Daesh or Al-Qaeda; whereas far right, far left and ethno- nationalist separatist extremism are also matters of concern;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas there has been a change of strategy since the military collapse of Daesh in its territory, with a decline in numbers of those travelling to Syria and Iraq for terrorist purposes and terrorist jihadists and, ‘sleeper-cells’ and lone wolves or small groups inside the EU being encouraged to carry out attacks in their home countries or countries of residence;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas Daesh and Al-Qaeda are financially self-reliant and whereas illicit trade in goods, firearms, oilweapons, raw materials, fuels, drugs, cigarettes and cultural objects, among other items, as well as trafficking in human beings, slavery, child exploitation, racketeering and extortion and other criminal activities, have become means for terrorist groups to obtain funding; whereas the link between organised crime and terrorist groups constitutes a growing security threat; whereas these sources could enable the continued funding of future criminal activities by Al-Qaeda, as well as by Daesh following its territorial collapse in Syria and Iraq, its potential successor organisations or other terrorist actors;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas terrorists continue to use small arms and explosives and have increasingly resorted to ad hoc weapons such as ground vehicles, trucks and knifaircraft, watercraft, pointed and edged weapons and chemical substances; whereas recent attacks have been prepared thoroughly or carried out spontaneously;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas the return of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and their families poses particular challenges in terms of security and radicalisation; whereas child returnees pose specific problems as they can be both victims and potential perpetrators, possibly disguised for years or decades, at the same time;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas the return of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and their families poses particular challenges in terms of security and radicalisation; whereas child returnees may pose specific problems as they can be both victims and potential perpetrators at the same time;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas these returnees have often received prolonged ideological indoctrination and military training in the use of weapons and explosives, as well as various cover, assault and combat tactics, and have in some cases established links with other terrorists, possibly former foreign fighters, with whom they form transnational networks;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
Recital S
S. whereas the flow of illegal migrants and refugees poses challenges to integration, which have already been exploited by extremists and terrorists and could be further exploited in the future;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T
Recital T
T. whereas new forms of terrorism may be used for an attack, among them cyber-terrorism and the use of weapons of mass destruction, possibly in connection with new technical equipment such as drones; whereas there is the precedent of a foiled attack involving the highly toxic biological agent ricin; whereas there are cases where Daesh has used or planned to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) materials, and shared via social media channels possible tactics and methods for attacks and targets;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T
Recital T
T. whereas new forms of terrorism may be used for an attack, among them cyber-terrorism and the use of weapons of mass destruction; whereas there is the alleged precedent of a foiled attack involving the highly toxic biological agent ricin; whereas there are cases where Daesh has used or planned to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) materials, and shared via social media channels possible tactics and methods for attacks and targets;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T a (new)
Recital T a (new)
T a. whereas multiple cases of trafficking of radiological or nuclear material are annually reported to the Incident and Trafficking database of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), emphasising the latent risk emanating from such substances, particularly with regard to the severity of their potential consequences;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Z
Recital Z
Z. whereas several European funds and programmes can be used for projects countering and preventing radicalisation; whereas the EU budget up to 2020 allocates EUR 314 million for anti- radicalisation projects1a; whereas there is no continuous evaluation of the effectiveness of those programmes; __________________ 1a Speech by Commissioner Jourová, in charge of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, at the Conference on Radicalisation in Prisons, in Brussels, Borschette, 27.2.2018 http://europa.eu/rapid/press- release_SPEECH-18-1221_en.htm
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AB
Recital AB
AB. whereas a violent radicalised discourse has been increasingly present in the territory of the EU, often in the form of booksprinted matter, teaching or audiovisual content, including satellite TV channels; whereas this discourse opposes European values, undermines pluralism, promotes violence and intolerance against all other religions, is openly anti-Semitic, refuses equality between men and women, and rejects the science and education which have been promoted by Islam during centuries;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AD
Recital AD
AD. whereas throughout Europe significant numbers of cases of radical ‘hate preachers’ have been documenoted; whereas the hate preachers often originate from outside the EU, while mosques receive opaque funding from third countries;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF
Recital AF
AF. whereas Daesh’sthe sophisticated web communication strategy employed by Daesh, but also by other terrorist actors, of marketing terrorism by glorifying it also offers alternative social and cultural opportunities to followers and design copied from the global ‘youth culture’ such as online gaming, and thus has a strong appeal to minors;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AH
Recital AH
AH. whereas Europol’s Internet Referral Unit (IRU) has made more than 50 000 referrals and on average 87 %1a of the content referred to companies by the IRU has been removed on the basis of voluntary consideration of the compatibility of the referred internet content with their own terms and conditions; __________________ 1a TERR hearing 24 April 2018, testimony by Mr Luigi Soreca, Director for Security, DG Home, European Commission
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AI
Recital AI
AI. whereas although major progress has been made with regard to removal of online terrorist content, there is a need to scale up the companies’ engagement; whereas the removals are often not complete nor timely or permanent, removing the content from one website but leaving it on another belonging to the same company; whereas effective and comprehensive or allowing the account to remain live and/or reappear after it has posted content in violation of a company’s terms of service; whereas effective, comprehensive and transparent reporting by companies has to be improved;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AJ
Recital AJ
AJ. whereas, in response to larger companies removing more content and doing so at a greater pace, Daesh is increasingly using new and/or smaller platforms which are less suited to fast removal of terrorist material; whereas this diversification to smaller platforms makes additional technical support essential to enable, for example, the introduction of platform-agnostic automated tools, such as the database of hasheshashing technology, which can identify online terrorist content with a high degree of accuracy as well as promulgating EU- wide standards for terms of service to be adopted across companies and by which EU Member States can judge a company’s performance in enforcing such standards;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AL
Recital AL
AL. whereas retention of data is an essential part of the investigative process; whereas police and judicial authorities usually rely heavily on communications data to successfully proceed with their casework; whereas in order for interoperability of information systems to reach its full potential, harmonised data retention, evaluation and processing regimes across the EU are vital; whereas the necessity of an appropriate data retention regime when it comes to the fight against terrorism was consistently raised during the work of the TERR Committee;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AL
Recital AL
AL. whereas retention of data is an essential part of the investigative process; whereas police and, judicial authorities and intelligence services usually rely heavily on communications data to successfully proceed with their casework; whereas in order for interoperability of information systems to reach its full potential, harmonised data retention regimes across the EU are vital; whereas the necessity of an appropriate data retention regime when it comes to the fight against terrorism was consistently raised during the work of the TERR Committee;
Amendment 315 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AM
Recital AM
AM. whereas the use of encryption by terrorists to protect their communications or stored data represents a considerable challenge for civil intelligence, security agencies and law enforcement, denying access to essential intelligence and evidence; whereas encryption becomes particularly critical when even the responsible online service providers are unwilling or unable to decrypt the communication;
Amendment 316 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AM
Recital AM
AM. whereas the use of encryption by terrorists to protect their communications or stored data represents a considerable challenge for law enforcement and intelligence services, denying access to essential intelligence and evidence; whereas encryption becomes particularly critical when even the responsible online service providers are unwilling or unable to decrypt the communication;
Amendment 348 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AV a (new)
Recital AV a (new)
AV a. whereas - in the context of the Information Management strategy (IMS), 6th Action list - there are currently two on-going pilot projects which aim at ensuring interlinking with decentralised systems, namely the ADEP project (Automation of data exchange processes on police records) and project QUEST (“Querying Europol Systems”); where-as such projects help provide real and workable solutions to the problems stemming from the lack of interconnectivity of decentralised information systems and help foster trust and cooperation between the Member States;
Amendment 392 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BD
Recital BD
BD. whereas efficient and systematic cooperation between the Member States and the EU agencies as well as among the agencies in the counter-terrorism field is imperative, especially cooperation between Europol and Eurojust in order to effectively detect, prevent, and investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of a terrorist attack; whereas Eurojust has appointed a specialised counter-terrorism prosecutor to make the bridge with the ECTC at Europol to increase cooperation and information exchange between the two agencies;
Amendment 400 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BG
Recital BG
BG. whereas several EU instruments such as Decision 2005/671/JHA, the CT Directive and the Europol regulation require Member States to share information on terrorism with the relevant agencies; whereas increased information sharing with Europol and Eurojust on a regular basis and in a timely and systematic manner, including contextual information, facilitates their work in detecting links between cases and providing an overview of challenges and best practice related to investigations, prosecutions and convictions for terrorist offences; whereas information shared with Eurojust has increased over the past years, but differences continue to exist between the Member States in relation to the amount, type and scope of the information shared, which may result in fragmented information available1a; __________________ 1a While only 14 terrorism cases were referred to Eurojust in 2014, the number of cases dealt by Eurojust from 2014-2018 reached 263 with a total of 61 coordination meetings in 75 terrorism cases, 2 coordination centres and 14 cases with JITs supported by Eurojust
Amendment 403 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BG a (new)
Recital BG a (new)
BG a. whereas the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, to be established on the basis of Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1339, shall have the important task of investigating and prosecuting criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the Union, its establishment and the allocation of financial resources to this new body should not negatively impact the abilities of existing structures, such as Eurojust, to facilitate the efforts of the Member States in the fight against terrorism;
Amendment 405 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BG b (new)
Recital BG b (new)
BG b. whereas CEPOL substantially contributes to CT training for law enforcement officials of the Member States and in priority third countries;
Amendment 410 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BJ
Recital BJ
BJ. whereas joint investigation teams (JITs) facilitate the coordination of investigations and prosecutions in cases with a cross-border dimension and allow for real-time exchange of information/evidence; whereas the practical benefits resulting from the use of JITs include improved information exchange, exchange of best practices, enhanced collection of evidence and mutual recognition of the actions carried out by the parties; whereas JITs require appropriate funding to work effectively;
Amendment 415 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BK
Recital BK
BK. whereas close cooperation withby online service providers (OSPs) is necessary when it comes to securing and obtaining electronic evidence, given its importance for investigating terrorist offences;
Amendment 426 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BM
Recital BM
BM. whereas the thwarted attack on the Thalys train of 21 August 2015, the Paris attacks of 13 November 2015 and the Brussels attacks of 22 March 2016 have demonstrated major failures in European border control policy, since at least eight of these attacks’ perpetrators entered Greece via irregular flows in July, August and October 2015, or more precisely, remain in Member States despite being due to depart or be deported, either lacking sufficient legal basis to remain or having been rejected in the asylum and residency procedures and are noticeable in general criminal circles;
Amendment 454 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BS
Recital BS
BS. whereas battlefield evidence is often essential to identify potential foreign terrorist fighters and needs to be included in the relevant databases in order to reach border guards in real time and to be shared with investigators and prosecutors for investigations and prosecutions;
Amendment 487 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BW a (new)
Recital BW a (new)
BW a. whereas terrorist actors make use of both traditional Informal Value Transfer Systems (IVTS) such as hawala and modern financial transfer systems with digital currencies, and both systems continue to elude security and law enforcement measures for the most part;
Amendment 499 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CB
Recital CB
CB. whereas the Commission Comprehensive Assessment of EU Security Policy and the evaluation study of Directive 2008/114/EC indicate that: the threat to critical infrastructures is likely to continue to rise, that there is a need to enhance preparation and response capabilities and to revise Directive 2008/114/EC, and that there is an interest in targeting transport infrastructures; whereas a better framework is needed to improve rail security and to address the issue of protection of public areas of transport infrastructures, such as airports and, ports and maritime transport, as well as railway stations;
Amendment 514 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CH a (new)
Recital CH a (new)
CH a. whereas vehicle rental companies lack the ability to exchange information such as booking or reservation data with law enforcement agencies for the purpose of cross-checks against official watch-lists and police databases;
Amendment 515 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CI
Recital CI
CI. whereas in 2015 and 2016, explosives were used in 40 % of the terrorist attacks committed in the EU;1a; __________________ 1a Europol TeSat 2017, p. 10
Amendment 517 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CJ
Recital CJ
CJ. whereas the explosive used in most of the attacks was triacetone triperoxide (TATP)1a, a home-made explosive that remains the explosive of choice for terrorists; whereas TATP can be quite easily manufactured using only a few substances; __________________ 1a Europol TeSat 2017, p. 15
Amendment 527 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CP
Recital CP
CP. whereas according to Europol’s Te- Sat 2018 report, firearms were used in 41 % of all attacks, a slight increase compared to 2016 (38 %);1a; __________________ 1a Europol TeSat 2018, p. 9
Amendment 529 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CQ
Recital CQ
CQ. whereas in recent years an increase in converted flare guns, blank firing weapons and reactivated firearms has been observed;
Amendment 531 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CR
Recital CR
CR. whereas the crime-terror nexus also facilitateases the access of terrorists to firearms;
Amendment 558 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CX
Recital CX
CX. whereas the EU is cooperating with third countries in the area of counter- terrorism in a variety of ways; whereas a number of EU instruments can be used to finance CT programmes abroad; whereas the EU has deployed a network of CT experts within EU delegations; whereas EU agencies such as Europol, Eurojust and CEPOL are also cooperating with third countries in the area of counter-terrorism, through strategic and operational agreements for example;
Amendment 592 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital DE a (new)
Recital DE a (new)
DE a. whereas Eurojust has been facilitating the execution of MLA requests for coordinating and granting assistance in the exercise of rights of victims of terrorism, considering the different rights and roles of foreign victims in their national legal systems;
Amendment 599 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital DF
Recital DF
DF. whereas the Union is founded on the values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as on the principles of democracy and the rule of law; whereas acts of terrorism constitute the most serious violation of these universal values and principles; whereas there are religious practices throughout the EU that fundamentally oppose EU values;
Amendment 629 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reiterates that while Member States remain first in line to respond to and prevent threats, a clear need exists to fully recognise the Security Union’s role in supporting them, providing common solutions and adding value, especially so that the transnational phenomena of radicalism, extremism and particularly terrorism can be countered;
Amendment 640 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that, at this stage, the EU and the Member States should improve cooperation through existing European agencies, specialised EU services and Member States’ security and justice institutions;
Amendment 654 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls for the setting up within the European Parliament of a standing parliamentary committee responsible for matters relating to internal security and terrorism and dealing with particularly sensitive information;
Amendment 664 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls on Member States and the Commission to further strengthen and support the ATLAS network of civilian anti-terror special operation units of the EU Member States;
Amendment 669 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to work with the Member States towards more transparency and, a common understanding of threat levels and a relatively unified standard for assessing threat levels; calls on the Member States to swiftly transmit information on the change of the threat level and the rationale behind it;
Amendment 679 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Member States to monitor all foreign terrorist fighters; calls for an effective and appropriate follow-up of the threat posed by returnees, and for this purpose invites Member States to share contextual information about returnees via Europol and intelligence assessments on that topic with EU INTCEN; calls on the Commission to assist Member States in the establishment of aligned classification systems in order to distinguish between high, medium and low-risk returnees;
Amendment 688 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recommends to the Member States that they start building appropriate structures to respond to child returnees, and in particular the development of expertise, including that of experienced professionals, in the areas of trauma, extremism, child development, education and risk assessment and tailored to the local and national context, as well as clear legal and organisational structures for dealing with this phenomenon; encourages Member States to cooperate with the ICRC as they possess particular access and expertise in this field;
Amendment 693 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on the Commission to present a legislative proposal that precludes convicted terrorist offenders as well as persons where there is clear evidence that they pose a severe threat to public security from applying for asylum or other forms of international protection throughout the European Union;
Amendment 698 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States to establish and maintain appropriate ‘civil defence’ measures for preparedness against CBRN attacks by recruiting qualified and regularly trained personnel incorporating both full-time and voluntary staff, as well as appropriate technical infrastructure including specialised mobile detection vehiclesystems and the sharing of best practice; emphasises that these measures must be in line with a multidisciplinary strategy that contains methods of coordination, notification procedures, standard protocols, evacuation planning, public alarm systems and incident reporting; calls on the Commission and the Member States to gradually harmonise these strategies;
Amendment 702 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Calls on Member States and the Commission to establish regional – if applicable cross-border – stockpiling centres to ensure comprehensive availability of medical countermeasures including vaccines following the dual-use principle, and to use the Joint Procurement Mechanism to avoid parallel uncoordinated efforts;
Amendment 703 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Calls on Member States to create or strengthen specialised laboratories; asks the Commission and Parliament to fund and support relevant cross-border research activities;
Amendment 706 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Urges the Commission and the Member States to set common standards for vetting procedures at vulnerable institutions such as nuclear power plants or specialised laboratories;
Amendment 708 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9 b. Encourages Member States to make more use of technical detection systems of CBRN substances particularly at large-scale public events and calls on the Commission and the European Parliament to make further European funding available for comprehensive acquisitions of such systems;
Amendment 709 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9 c. Welcomes the approval of a regulation on civil aviation safety and the mandate of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 216/2008; calls on the Commission to take into account security aspects for forthcoming delegated and implementing rules on drones and drones operations, including regularly updated risk assessments; mandatory registration, electronic identification and geofencing in all drones categories; and mandatory security licenses and trainings for operators of security and inspection missions;
Amendment 711 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9 d. Notes the increased cyber threat and underlines the importance to step up cyber security efforts also in the CT field;
Amendment 718 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that terrorists have been known to start off in petty crimpersons carrying out terrorist activities in the EU attributed to Islamism in particular have often been known to commit general crimes or to move in criminal circles beforehand, and it is not uncommon for this to have already brought them to the attention of the police; is concerned that certain Member States’ justice systems have low conviction rates, with inadequate sentences being issued for serious crime and radicalised individuals being released prematurely or on parole; therefore encourages Member States to organise their justice systems such as to ensure effective intervention vis-à-vis habitual offenders and sufficient dissuasiveness for such offenders;
Amendment 770 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Calls on Eurojust to continue its work in monitoring the jurisprudence in Member States as regards radicalisation leading to terrorism, including the use of alternatives to prosecution and detention, and to report regularly in its Terrorism Conviction Monitor (TCM); to this end, calls on the Member States to transmit to Eurojust all relevant information on prosecutions and convictions for terrorist offences which affect or may affect two or more Member States;
Amendment 840 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Invites the Member States to examine how to ensure that places of worship, education, charities, cultural associations and similar entities provide details regarding the provenance of their funds and their distribution, both within and outside the EU, and how data concerning these entities, where there exists suspicion or reasonable grounds to suspect links with terrorist groups, could be recorded in a centralised database, set up with all the appropriate guarantees; calls on Member States to ban funding from third countries that oppose the EU’s fundamental values of democracy, pluralism, tolerance, and equality between men and women;
Amendment 892 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Underlines the need to achieve automatic, fast and full removal of terrorist content; requests the Commission to present a legislative proposal obliging companies to remove terrorist content fully within one hour and to introduce clear reporting and case-by-case preserving obligations on the incidence of terrorist content and removal rates, as well as sanctions for non-compliance;
Amendment 909 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls for the creation of an online European platform that citizens can use in order to flag terrorist and extremist content online; and asks companies to increase their capabilities to receive, review, and respond to flagged content;
Amendment 921 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Calls for involvement of social media and audiovisual companies, including public broadcasters, in developing and disseminating effective counter-narratives, also with the inclusion of victims and to ensure that search engines place counter-narratives prominently;
Amendment 944 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Encourages the Member States to take stock of trainings developed with the use of EU funds by European Confederation for Probation (CEP), EuroPris and the European Prison Training Academy (EPTA);
Amendment 947 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 b (new)
Paragraph 29 b (new)
29 b. Urges the Member States to guarantee safety, physical and psychological integrity of staff in prisons, to provide them with regular psychological counselling so that they do not become radicalised themselves and to develop and update official protocols of how to deal with radicalised prisoners;
Amendment 978 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Deplores the insufficient character of the security research being conducted, and calls for a specific programme on security research to be established in the next MFF; calls for a more proactive definition of the needs (i.e. strengthening ENLETS which is defining technological needs for law enforcement); calls to support pilot projects an artificial intelligence and blockchain (remittances); calls for active involvement of the EU agencies such as Europol, CEPOL and EBCGA in EU security research projects; calls on the Member States to regularly organise foresight exercises looking into future threat scenarios; supports the continued funding by the Commission of the establishment of modernised databases and the provision of up-to-date technical equipment and training of staff, and calls for a more ambitious approach in this respect;
Amendment 988 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Urges Member States to adopt the approach of ‘information sharing by default’ when it comes to sharing CT- related information with other Member States and relevant EU agencies and bodies, thus exchanging such information as a rule, and refraining from such exchange only in specific cases where circumstances require that it be withheld;
Amendment 1016 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)
Paragraph 39 a (new)
39 a. Calls on the co-legislators to ensure that intelligence services continue to have legitimate access to SIS under the reformed legal regime to avoid new security and information exchange gaps;
Amendment 1020 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Urges the Member States to ensure that the relevant information available at local or regional level and in their databases is automatically uploaded where possible through smart technical solutions to national systems and, where appropriate, to relevant European databases whilst ensuring data and data protection quality standards;
Amendment 1031 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Calls on Member States to ensure access to VIS for law enforcement authorities as well as intelligence services involved in CT operations and for a simplified procedure for such access;
Amendment 1078 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51 a (new)
Paragraph 51 a (new)
51 a. Stresses the need for continuous training to ensure the knowledge sharing and awareness of the necessary requirements in terms of system usage and the steps necessary to ensure the quality of the data-input.
Amendment 1110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Calls on the Member States to examine the possibility of better coordination and cooperation between intelligence and law enforcement services at EU level by increasingly sending intelligence experts in addition to law enforcement staff to the meetings of the Counter-Terrorism Joint Liaison Team (CTJLT) at Europol, which could serve as a blueprint for further cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence; calls on the Commission to increase support to the CTJLT, including special funding;
Amendment 1113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56 a (new)
Paragraph 56 a (new)
56 a. Calls for the establishment of a CTG-“Envoy”, who can serve as a public representative in the relations between the CTG and the relevant EU institutions and bodies;
Amendment 1161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64
Paragraph 64
64. Calls on Member States to ensure cooperation among all relevant stakeholders with a view to increasing the decryption abilities of the competent authorities; calls for the swift creation of a ‘Decryption Hub’ at Europol to develop decryption tools and expertise in order to better support Member States; urges that ENISA’s specialist coordination should be secured;
Amendment 1164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65
Paragraph 65
65. Calls for the creation of a comprehensive case-management system at Eurojust for all CT-related matters, comparable toin order to fulfil its tasks at judicial level in close cooperation with ECTC at Europol;
Amendment 1176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 b (new)
Paragraph 67 b (new)
67 b. Stresses the need for increased funding to CEPOL and to step up the development and delivery of innovative cyber related training;
Amendment 1181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70
Paragraph 70
70. Calls on Member States to make full use of the expertise and tools offered by Eurojust and the European Judicial Network (EJN), in particular in providing practical and legal information and support when it comes to MLA requests and assistance with mutual recognition requests, coordination of investigations and prosecutions, decisions on best placed jurisdiction to prosecute, or coordination of asset seizures and confiscations;
Amendment 1196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72
Paragraph 72
72. Calls for the swift adoption before the end of the current Parliament of the Commission proposals for a regulation and directive aimed at improving cross-border access to electronic evidence; requests online service providers (OSPs) to provide single points of contact for law enforcement/judiciary requests;
Amendment 1208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 74
Paragraph 74
74. Stresses the need to introduce a biometric matching service so as to prevent people using multiple identities with the help of real passports issued by third countries using alternative names; stresses the need to feed the relevant databases by making use of biometric data, including through the further development of facial recognition technology; also stresses the need to continuously improve the ability to recognise improperly used real, partly falsified or entirely falsified documents used for personal identification;
Amendment 1238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 79 a (new)
Paragraph 79 a (new)
79 a. Calls on the Commission to swiftly ensure that EBCGA reaches a standing corps of around 10,000 border guards1a; __________________ 1a http://europa.eu/rapid/press- release_MEMO-18-3621_en.htm
Amendment 1257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85
Paragraph 85
85. Calls on the Member States, FrontexEBCGA and Europol to establish a European Targeting Centre within Frontex that constitutes a joint venture with the national authorities and Europol; believes this centre should assist with the advance identification of travellers who pose a threat to the security of the EU and should function as a ‘round-the-clock’ service for national border guards when there are doubts regarding certain individuals; recommends the use of sophisticated software to increase the effectiveness of targeting and cooperation with international partners in this area;
Amendment 1263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86
Paragraph 86
86. Welcomes Europol’s participation in the law enforcement cell of the US-led Operation Gallant Phoenix (OGP) in Jordan, whereby it processes information obtained from the battlefield and exchanges it through established channels and procedures with Member States’ law enforcement authorities via the Europol National Units; calls for full access of Europol at OGP;
Amendment 1289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 90
Paragraph 90
90. Calls on the Member States to reassess the possibility of a new UN Security Council resolution allowing Operation Sophia to take operational measures against vessels and related assets inside the coastal states’ territory which are suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking, oilthe smuggling of goods, products and raw materials, violating the UN arms embargo or other criminal or terrorism-related offences;
Amendment 1305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93
Paragraph 93
93. Calls on the Member States to step up the monitoring of organisations and persons suspected of engaging in illicit trade, smuggling, counterfeiting and fraudulent practices via the establishment of JITs with Europol;
Amendment 1312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 95
Paragraph 95
Amendment 1313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 96
Paragraph 96
Amendment 1315 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 96 a (new)
Paragraph 96 a (new)
96 a. Calls on the European Commission to propose legislation for a robust tracing system for artworks and antiques entering the EU market, especially for items originating from conflict-affected and high-risk countries as listed by the Commission, as well as from organisations, groups or individuals included in the EU terror list; believes that this initiative should be supported by the creation of a standardised permit, without which trading of these items would be illicit, by the creation of a passport for the export of each item; believes that digital tools allowing to check the authenticity of the documents should be developed; notes that a comprehensive register of antiquities for sale should be systematically held up to date by art dealers;
Amendment 1317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 96 b (new)
Paragraph 96 b (new)
96 b. Calls on the Member States to make it mandatory for companies involved in art dealing to declare all suspicious transactions, and to make the owners of companies dealing in art and antiques who become involved in the trafficking of such goods subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, including criminal penalties where necessary;
Amendment 1318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 96 c (new)
Paragraph 96 c (new)
96 c. Calls on the Member States to cooperate more with Europol AP FURTUM and, as requested by UNSC 2347, to provide customs and law enforcement with dedicated personnel, as well as public prosecutors, with effective tools and adequate training through cooperation with the WCO and INTERPOL
Amendment 1320 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 97
Paragraph 97
97. Calls on the Commission to develop, together with Member States and international partners, ways of better monitoring financial flows and identifying users of electronic wallets and prepaid cards, crowdfunding platforms and online and mobile payment systems in relevant investigations; calls for a focus on virtual currencies and fintech and calls to explore the possibility to extend sanctions also to crowdfunding on social media for terrorist purposes;
Amendment 1345 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99 a (new)
Paragraph 99 a (new)
99 a. Calls for the swift adoption of the draft directive on access by law enforcement authorities to financial information and exchange of information between FIUs;
Amendment 1346 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99 a (new)
Paragraph 99 a (new)
99 a. Emphasises the need to include Informal Value Transfer Systems (IVTS) such as hawala in control and monitoring measures;
Amendment 1366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 107 a (new)
Paragraph 107 a (new)
107 a. Calls on the Commission to propose a European Certification Initiative for private security companies, aiming to specify requirements and conditions under which private security companies shall be able to operate within Critical Infrastructure environment;
Amendment 1373 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 110
Paragraph 110
110. Believes that a system must be set up for car rental agencies offering particular ground vehicles, aircraft and watercraft to check the identity of clients against police databases, showing only a red or green flag with the monitoring procedure being logged for data protection purposes, and that red-flag results should automatically signal the service in charge of the relevant file or case;
Amendment 1377 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 110
Paragraph 110
110. Believes that a system must be set up for car rental agencies to check the identity of clients against police databases, showing only a red or green flagwithout granting them any kind of access;
Amendment 1394 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 119
Paragraph 119
119. Highlights the importance of upgrading the regulatory framework on firearms, in order to avoid illicit firearms and particular firearms equipment being trafficked from both within and outside the EU; calls for the loopholes in the existing firearms legislation to be closed, for example by taking measures to stop the circulation of easy-to-convert blank-firing guns, Flobert guns and alarm pistol, flare guns, alarm pistols and similar weapons;
Amendment 1497 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 136
Paragraph 136
136. Calls for the Member States and the EU institutions, when adopting and applying CT measures, to find the right balance between the different fundamental rights involved; considers in this respect that, while privacy is a fundamental right, the first priority should lie in protecting people’s fundamental rights to life and security, which necessitates robust mandates for all public bodies involved in the fight against terrorism as well as a high degree of public support for these authorities;
Amendment 1516 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 139
Paragraph 139
139. Calls on the Member States to ensure that the necessary data protection safeguards are in place, including appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the security and confidentiality of personal data; urges the Member States to provide clear rules as to who can access which data in the systems, to maintain records of consultation and disclosure, and to provide for rights of access, rectification, erasure and restriction, as well as rights to compensation and judicial redress; calls on the Commission and the EDPS to further develop innovative privacy by design solutions;