Video: https://youtu.be/HkeelJgEtdI
Honourable Members,
We are commemorating a tragic anniversary.
Almost one year from the day terror struck Brussels, we are united in this chamber to pay our respect to the memory of the victims of terrorist attacks.
We remember and honour those that died unnecessarily. Innocent citizens.
We remember and recognise the suffering of their families, and the survivors of the attacks.
They have to live forever with the memory of the atrocities. Terrorism is a brutality.
An act of inhumanity and callousness.
That is why today is also a day of RESOLVE, of RESILIENCE, of DETERMINATION to do everything in our power to prevent such terrorist attacks from happening again.
This is a duty we all share here in this room. And it is ultimately our duty towards our citizens – that increasingly look towards Europe to feel safe against terrorism.
Honourable Members,
Almost one year ago, we said that the only way to fight terrorism decisively is together.
Through a genuine and effective Security Union in Europe – where the security of one Member State is the security of all: à Starting from our external borders, where we put in place a European Border and Coast Guard, proposed an EU Entry-Exit System, and ETIAS – our Travel Information and Authorisation System for visa free travellers.
- Ensuring systematic checks on everybody crossing our borders.
- Working with our strategic partners like the US, but also our neighbours –the Western Balkan countries, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and Turkey.
- Improving the way we exchange information: interconnecting our information systems to make sure we connect all the dots.
- Establishing our EU PNR system to track the movements of dangerous persons.
- Criminalising all aspects of terrorism with our new Counter-Terrorism Directive.
- Strengthening our agencies, starting from Europol, where we set up our mCounter-Terrorism Centre to help Member States in their operations.
- Cutting the access of terrorists to explosives and firearms – you voted on our new Firearms Directive this morning.
- Going after the money of terrorists, with a series of proposals targeting money laundering, asset freezing, cash movements and suspicious financial flows from third countries.
- Strengthening the security of all modes of transport, which are often the main targets of terrorists.
We do this through stepped up intelligence sharing, local risk assessments, innovative methods and technologies, and the key role of operators for a successful implementation of measures.
And finally, working to counter radicalisation in our communities, schools, prisons and especially, on the internet.
Now that Daesh is losing all its territory on the ground, the internet is where they will focus.
I have just returned from the US, where I went to meet the major internet companies working with us in the EU Internet Forum.
What I confirmed in this visit, is that we managed to build a solid relationship of trust and partnership with these companies.
Our goals are shared.
They want to clean up their platforms from all terrorist content.
We want to keep our citizens – their users – safe.
Concrete results from this partnership are already visible.
The referral mechanism we set up with Europol last year resulted in almost 90% removal rate of the content we refer to the companies.
I have seen in action their new project to eliminate terrorist propaganda – a shared database between them to ensure removed terrorist content stays offline.
I heard how they want to work with us to bring the smaller, more vulnerable platforms into our partnership.
And it is not just about removing terrorist content; it’s also about creating content with positive narratives.
Today we launched the Civil Society Empowerment Programme, with a EUR 10 million financial envelope attached, to help NGOs pass positive counter-messages online.
Things are moving forward – but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We have put important proposals on the table that you need to adopt swiftly to make a difference for the security of our citizens.
- Entry-Exit,
- ETIAS,
- the Schengen Information System – work should be completed this year.
What we agree should be fully and correctly implemented:
- PNR,
- the Counter-Terrorism Directive,
- our new rules on Firearms have entered the crucial stage of implementation.
We cannot afford to fail.
Tragic anniversaries such as today’s, underscore our responsibility to deliver without delay.
For the memory of the innocent victims.
Thank you.