Brussels, 19/10/2015
Excellencies, Ministers, Members of the European Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me first thank you Věra and Minister Felix Braz for bringing together such a distinguished group of policymakers, experts and practitioners to discuss a matter of critical importance.
Terrorism has cast a long shadow over Europe in recent months, and meetings like this one are essential in forging strong, collective responses. I am pleased therefore to be with you here today, not as a guest, but as a partner.
I am here in order to share what we are doing to tackle radicalisation, in the framework of the European Agenda on Security.
The criminal justice response to radicalisation is an absolutely key input in our collective effort to fight the problem. Terrorism in Europe feeds on extremist ideologies.
EU action against terrorism therefore needs to address the root causes of extremism through a range of preventive measures.
We need no reminder of the atrocious attacks on France and Denmark this year. Europe has lived terror before. But now things are different.
Throughout the EU, the link between radicalisation and extremist violence is obvious. Extremist propaganda leads foreign terrorist fighters from Europe to travel abroad to train, fight, and commit atrocities in combat zones.
Then they come back to threaten the stability and internal security of the EU. We have thousands of Europeans abandoning their lives here, to go fight alongside terrorist groups in countries such as Iraq and Syria.
Strengthening the EU’s strategic communication with common narratives needs to be an important aspect of the EU’s response. But our response to extremism must not lead to the stigmatisation of any one group or community.
It is our primary task and our shared responsibility to ensure the security of our citizens, but we also need to defend the fundamental rights and values of our societies. We must draw on common European values of tolerance, diversity and mutual respect, and promote free and pluralist communities.
The EU must cut the support base of terrorism with a strong and determined counter-narrative. This is an objective which is based not only on values. It is also based on pragmatism.
Terrorist groups such as ISIL are becoming more and more effective in spreading their poisonous propaganda and attracting new recruits. In fact, we are learning that it now takes only 6 to 8 weeks for extremist groups to radicalise young people and bring them to their cause. This is a dramatic shift, which shows the urgency to act. It also shows how imminent is the threat. But we cannot afford to focus only on the urgencies.
We must tackle the roots of radicalisation head-on, with a global, long-term vision. Tackling radicalisation is not an area reserved for security and law enforcement services.
It touches upon bigger issues, such as deepening the respect for democratic values, enhancing critical thinking and promoting social inclusion.
A comprehensive response also means that we need to rely on the inclusion and engagement of a variety of actors.
We must do this together, in the broadest and most inclusive way possible. This is precisely the multi-sectoral, joined-up approach of European Agenda on Security.
That is where the European Commission put forward our commitment to comprehensive responses to radicalisation.
That is where the Commission responds to the challenges by setting out its vision and concrete plans of action.
Let me briefly mention three such actions: EU Internet Forum
First: we all know that terrorist propaganda thrives online.
We need to counter this abuse of the internet and its growing role in radicalisation with determination and a shared plan of action. That is exactly the reason why we are setting up the EU Internet Forum.
This will be the platform to engage in a dialogue with internet companies, which is action-oriented and looks at practical solutions.
I will officially launch the Internet Forum on 2 December this year, with most of the large internet players around the table.
All the companies we spoke to are very engaged and willing to work with us. The spectre of online radicalisation affects them too.
My second concrete example, is the establishment of the EU Internet Referral Unit within EUROPOL.
The mission of this unit will be to crack down on the immense amount of online terrorist material which is available online, and is a risk for young, vulnerable individuals.
Its task will be primarily to facilitate the detection of terrorist material on the internet and ensure its swift removal.
My third example is on the central role that front-line, local practitioners from very different professional backgrounds play in our work on preventing radicalisation.
It is this conviction which led to the creation of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) back in 2011, allowing practitioners to exchange experiences and identify good practices in different fields of violent radicalisation.
The RAN now connects about 2000 practitioners from all over Europe. I am proud to see that several speakers today are part of this truly impressive network.
As we announced in the European Agenda on Security, the RAN now is getting a reinforcement, with the setting up of the new RAN Center of Excellence.
This centre will act as an EU knowledge hub to consolidate expertise and encourage the exchange of experiences and cooperation on radicalisation.
It will add a new practical dimension to the cooperation between stakeholders on anti-radicalisation.
The RAN Center will have a budget of €25 million for the next four years. It will target our research to where practitioners need answers.
It will translate practical experiences into recommendations to policy makers. It will be at the service of stakeholders in Member States with counselling, advice and training programmes.
And it will review promising practices to further develop concrete plans of action.
Let me now turn to the issue of radicalisation in prisons.
We know that prisons are places which have always been hotbeds for radicalisation.
It is true that some of the perpetrators of recent or attempted attacks had never been to prison, but on the other hand, many others had.
And there is increasing concern that it is in prisons that they had been radicalised.
That is why we are prioritising the development of efficient de-radicalisation and re-integration programmes in our prisons.
The RAN has been working in this area since 2011 within a dedicated Working Group on Prisons.
This, with the aim of finding solutions as to how to prevent non-violent extremists from being radicalised, to prevent further radicalisation of offenders, and to support the de-radicalisation or disengagement process of violent extremists.
The practitioners in this area are the strongest allies we have in our efforts to achieve de-radicalisation and re-integration into society.
Given the scale and growing numbers of extremist offenders in the prison environment, our responses need to be scaled up:
We need to increase our knowledge base to be able to develop more targeted and tailor-made measures to tackle radicalisation in prisons;
We need to provide practitioners with the skills and competences to detect and deal with radicalisation in an appropriate manner;
And as we say in our Security Agenda, we need to promote an inter-agency approach, bringing together governors, wardens,
probation officers, intelligence, police, social workers and therapists, to name just a few actors.
Today’s conference will play a crucial role in shedding further light on the challenges of radicalisation in the prison environment.
And it will hopefully pave the way for the development of a more comprehensive and more effective response.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Radicalisation is a real and tangible problem, but we are committed to bringing change.
The challenges we face are existential.
We must be committed and determined to join forces to make the best use of our collective expertise in this field.
I wish you all constructive and inspiring discussions.