As announced by President Juncker in his 2017 State of the Union Address, the Commission presented on October 18th a set of operational and practical measures to better defend EU 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 Commission is also proposing to further strengthen the EU's external action on counter-terrorism — including through Europol — and is recommending the EU open negotiations on a revised Passenger Name Record agreement with Canada.
These measures essentially revolve around three main pillars:
Protecting public spaces
With terrorists increasingly targeting public and crowded spaces, as shown by the recent attacks in Barcelona, London, Manchester and Stockholm, the Commission presented an Action Plan to step up the support to Member States efforts to protect and reduce the vulnerability of public spaces whith measures including: (1) increased financial support, (2) guidance material, (3) exchange of best practices and (4) improving cooperation between local actors and the private sector.
Depriving terrorists of the means to act
Depriving terrorists of the means to carry out terrorist acts is crucial to prevent further attacks from taking place. The Commission presented additional short-term measures to: (1) restrict access to substances used to make home-made explosives, (2) support law enforcement and judicial authorities when they encounter encryption in criminal investigations, without weakening encryption at a more general level or affecting a large or indiscriminate number of people, (3) tackle terrorist financing.
Reinforcing the EU's external action on counter-terrorism
The Commission also proposed to strengthen the EU's external action and cooperation with third countries on counter-terrorism and other serious transnational crime by: (1) recommending to the Council to authorise the opening of negotiations for a revised Passenger Name Records Agreement with Canada, in line with all the requirements set out by the European Court of Justice in its opinion of 26 July. (2) Enhancing Europol's cooperation with third countries by presenting, before the end of the year, recommendations to the Council to authorise the opening of negotiations for agreements between the EU and Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey on the transfer of personal data between Europol and these countries to prevent and combat terrorism and serious crimes.
More information here.