Fight against terrorism: “Europe must act faster and more efficiently”

“Europe must crack down on the arms trade, apply the Schengen Agreement more rigorously and more quickly develop the PNR system for tracking down suspicious persons and travel movements.” Belgian Minister of the Interior, Jan Jambon, reached this conclusion after emergency security consultations with his French counterpart, Bernard Cazeneuve. The meeting was organised after the attacks in Paris on 13 November. Since these attacks the general threat level has been raised in Belgium.

Both ministers of the interior feel that the three proposed measures must be discussed at European level as soon as possible. “First and foremost, we urgently need a European action plan for the arms trade”, said Cazeneuve. An agreement must also urgently be reached regarding a PNR (Passenger Name Record) system through which European airlines can share passenger data with the Member States. “We have been pressing for this data exchange for quite some time already, far too long in fact”, said Jambon. “Both Belgium and France are in favour of such a system. We have no intention of waiting for the European Union to act and have decided to already start preparations in terms of legislation and software.” Further information about this is available here.

Internal border checks
One of the critical elements requested by both countries is the more rigorous application of the Schengen Agreement. “We need more checks at Europe’s internal borders”, said Cazeneuve. In the margin of tightened security measures after the attacks in Paris, France has already set the example by reintroducing such border checks. Jambon is also in favour of this approach. “These measures are provided for in the Schengen Agreement”, he says.

Finally, Minister Cazeneuve also stressed that he has great confidence in the collaboration between Belgium and France. “The perpetrators travelled from Belgium to France. It is therefore important that we work together in a decisive manner”, he said.

Belgium steps up efforts
Meanwhile, the countries have already moved up their efforts a notch individually. For example, Belgium is going to develop a specific action plan for the Brussels Region, more particularly the municipality of Molenbeek. “Whereas the number of people leaving for Syria has systematically dropped in the other Belgian regions, people continue to leave from Brussels. We have decided to step up our efforts to take control of the situation there as well”, Jambon promised.

As of January, the Belgian anti-terror department OCAD will also be able to rely on a completely new, dynamic database to better keep track of Belgians who leave to fight in Syria, called foreign terrorist fighters, as well as monitor them more closely. “Every name in this new database will also include OCAD’s threat assessment. This will give all the security agencies in our country a better understanding of how these Syrian combatants are being monitored”, Jambon concluded.