Today, the European Parliament adopted two important Security Union legislative initiatives proposed by the Commission on interoperability and explosive precursors. These new measures will allow EU information systems for security, migration and border management to work together more intelligently and will strengthen EU rules on explosive precursors.
Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said: “The Security Union is steadily taking shape with a whole range of tools, actions and rules being put in place to protect our citizens on all fronts. I welcome that the European Parliament has given its final green light today to ensure that all our information systems can talk to one another and that terrorists and criminals can no longer get their hands on dangerous chemicals to produce homemade bombs. This is Europe at its best. This is Europe that protects.”
Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King said: “Today’s adoptions mark another important milestone in our work towards an effective and genuine Security Union. Interoperability will help those working in the frontline to keep EU citizens safe – ensuring police and border guards have efficient access to the information they need, including to fight identity fraud, enables them to do their jobs properly. And the new rules on explosive precursors are an important element of our work in closing down the space in which terrorists operate, preventing them from gaining access to the means they use to cause harm.”
Better protecting European citizens has been a political priority since the beginning of the Juncker Commission’s mandate – from President Juncker’s Political Guidelines of July 2014 to the latest State of the Union Address on 12 September 2018. The adopted measures will expedite the ongoing efforts at EU level to improve internal security and close down the space in which criminals and terrorists operate.
The interoperability framework will:
Crosscheck existing data with one click through a European search portal: Border guards and police will, on a single screen, be able to carry out and cross-check identity documents against all the relevant EU information systems, in line with their existing access rights;
Better detect identity fraud: Border guards and police will soon be able to identify dangerous criminals more easily through a shared biometric matching service that will use fingerprints and facial images to search across existing information systems, and through a common identity repository which will store biographical data of non-EU citizens. In addition, a multiple-identity detector will cross-check and immediately flag anyone who is using fraudulent or multiple identities;
Protect fundamental rights: Interoperability does not change the rules on access and purpose limitation relating to the EU’s information systems. Fundamental rights thus remain protected.
While the EU already has strict rules in place on access to chemical precursors that can be used to produce homemade explosives, the strengthened regulation will:
Ban additional chemicals: The list of restricted substances has been updated to include sulphuric acid, an ingredient in the explosives used in the attack at the airport and the subway of Brussels in March 2016, as well as ammonium nitrate.
Strengthen licensing and screening: Before issuing a license to a member of the general public for buying restricted substances, each Member State will need to check the legitimacy of such a request and perform a careful security screening, including a criminal background check.