More power for Europol in the fight against terror

11 May 2016
More power for Europol in the fight against terror

The European Parliament is giving Europol more power in the fight against terror. The European police service acquires more options for tracing criminal activities, especially online. For example, Europol will carry out more internet checks and will be able to ask internet companies to remove extremist content more easily. In addition, the data management system will be modernised and become more flexible. “After the recent vote to share more passenger information, we are once again taking another important step in guaranteeing the security of European citizens. After all, information plays a key role in successfully carrying out anti terror measures”, European Parliament member Helga Stevens explains.

At the end of November, her colleague in the European Parliament, Sander Loones, called on the chairpersons of European institutions to push forward with anti-terror measures. Meanwhile, an agreement has been approved concerning the exchange of passenger information, and now the authority of Europol has also been strengthened. “Sorely needed,” according to Sander Loones, “because it is true that there is much room for improvement when it comes to data exchange. At Europol, a separate unit is aimed at the so-called foreign fighters. Those terror fighters can only do their job well if they receive sufficient information. Every member country must shoulder its responsibility in this respect. For example, we must no longer tolerate that several countries do not provide sufficient information to the Schengen Information System.” That SIS is an automated register of wanted persons in the Schengen zone.

Tackling online terror

In the same letter, Sander Loones also pleaded for extended powers for the EU Internet Referral Unit, which searches for terrorist content on the internet and should be fully operational by next month. “Meanwhile, that department has already traced hundreds of Twitter accounts that spread IS-related propaganda. This agreement means they will be able to independently ask Twitter to remove those accounts. Our federal police has also recently acquired its own eight person IRU team, which is a privileged partner of the IRU at Europol. Our country stands at the forefront in Europe in this respect when it comes to the fight against terror.”

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