Remarks by Commissioner Avramopoulos at the event on ‘Preventing Terrorist Use of the Internet’, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), New York
Video: https://youtu.be/qaBSJBu6TYI
Your excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The internet is one of the greatest achievements of humanity. But when this great medium of our era is abused for the foul purposes of terrorism, we need to act. The consensus we are starting to build around this issue is crucial. In the EU, we have been conscious of this fact since 2015, when I first convened the EU Internet Forum. I would therefore like to thank Prime Minister May, President Macron and Prime Minister Gentiloni for hosting this discussion, at a crucial time for the security of our citizens. Globally, we all need to, and can do more to curb the presence of terrorism online. The leaders of the G7 and G20, and European leaders in the European Council acknowledged this challenge fully. The leaders of the internet industry acknowledged this also, when they set up their Global Industry Counter-Terrorism Forum. In the EU Internet Forum we invested in a relationship of trust and genuine partnership with the major internet industry players. Starting with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter, but then expanding also to several other, smaller companies, we united forces to stop the spread of terrorist ideology on the internet. I am very pleased for the scaling up of our efforts at global level. We referred 35,000 pieces of content to the companies, with a removal success rate close to 90%. The companies developed themselves a new tool to lock down the terrorist images and video, and to make the deletions irreversible. But we all know that 35,000 deletions is a drop in the ocean of the internet. We are merely reacting to the abuse, not anticipating it. Since last July, we set out an Action Plan: to redouble our efforts with the internet companies; – to introduce more automatic detection of content; – to and cut down the time needed to remove content; – to bring more companies into our partnership. We need to build on this international consensus. Today is another important step – but it cannot be a one-off occasion. We need to forge strong linkages between the national, the regional and the international level, between public and private. Most of all, we should build on the trust between us. In this forum, we need concrete, tangible actions to rid the internet from terrorism. From the European side, I can commit here, that the work of the EU Internet Forum will continue and intensify.
Remarks by Commissioner Avramopoulos at the Ministerial meeting of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum (GCT), United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), New YorkSince 2015, our experiences with terrorism in Europe have been difficult. We have learned hard lessons. Yesterday, Secretary General Guterres issued a strong call, for a new global consensus to fight terrorism globally. This is something that I have been calling for in Europe since 2015, when we had the first attacks in Paris and Brussels. As European Commissioner in charge of Home Affairs, this consensus – both within Europe and globally – has been my top priority in the area of security. Terrorism is not an issue for one nation. For one region. It is a problem which transcends borders and continents. It is a threat for all our democracies, and the rules-based international order we built since the second World War. Seeing terrorism in this light, it becomes plainly obvious that the only way to fight it is globally. With trust between us, and a strong sense of unity and purpose in our efforts. That is why we support, and we will always support fighting terrorism globally, multilaterally, collectively. Through fora such as the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, to which we will always show our full commitment. I welcome therefore, the new initiatives of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum that we endorse today – on the nexus between transnational crime and terrorism, on the challenge of returning foreign terrorist fighters and their families, and on addressing homegrown violent extremism. All these issues are highly relevant for the EU. And they are issues on which we are taking joint action. The hard lessons we learned have led us to conclude that this joint action is inevitable. That only through a genuine and effective Security Union in Europe, can we build the same unity of purpose, and operational effectiveness to fight terrorism. While our Member States retain their responsibility and competence for national security, this effort against terrorism can only be common. To fight radicalisation on our streets, and on the internet. To enhance our sharing of information and achieve the interoperability of all our information systems. To improve the security of our external borders. To deprive terrorists of the means they have to commit attacks, such as firearms and explosives. To protect our citizens in public open spaces – the so-called soft-targets, which this Forum will also work now to protect. Ultimately, to arrive in the medium term, to a consensus also about our understanding of national security: overcoming the national security taboos of the past, and deciding to work towards a truly European security system. Where intelligence services work together, through a single European intelligence unit. I have been asking our Member States to show the necessary solidarity and responsibility towards each other, and towards our Union. Ultimately, this is the spirit of responsibility they need to show towards their own citizens, in order to defeat terrorism. And we will soon come forward with concrete, operational proposals to make this vision a reality. I want to go back to what Secretary General Guterres said yesterday: NOTHING justifies terrorism – no cause and no grievance. And because I am sure that we can all subscribe to this statement, I would add a corollary: Nothing can justify not joining the global consensus against terrorism. Nothing can justify inaction when our citizens are getting killed in our cities. Nothing can justify fragmentation of our effort. Terrorism, is an evil that our societies will need to live with for some time. If we don’t join forces, we will never be able to defeat it.
Remarks by Commissioner Avramopoulos at the event on ‘The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants – one year on’, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), New YorkDear all, One year ago, we were all here for the first time, in what was a historical milestone for global migration management. But our success is only measured by what we concretely achieve, together. The reality is, that there were more than 60 million people displaced last year. They still are today, as the current Rohingya refugee crisis reminds us. Our joint efforts are producing results, thanks to the work done by many of us here, not least by Louise Arbour, but also by Filippo Grandi and William Swing. Concerning the Refugee Compact, the EU has been doing a lot and is ready to do more. In 2016, half of the 2 million asylum applications submitted in the world, were lodged in Europe. The EU granted protection to more than 700,000 persons. At the same time, Europe has, and will increase its contribution to the resettlement efforts from Turkey, the Middle East but also Africa. In parallel, we need a comprehensive, balanced and long-term approach, for the future Migration Compact, as confirmed by our own experience in the European Union. For us, developing a comprehensive migration policy, grounded on the twin principles of shared responsibility and solidarity, is a priority not only in Europe, but globally. Since spring 2015, the EU has replied in a coordinated manner to the challenges of the migration and refugee crisis. This includes preventing the loss of lives at sea, offering protection to those in need, fighting migrant smugglers, addressing the root causes of irregular migration, opening legal channels for migration, and stepping up efforts for inclusion of migrants and refugees into the host countries; All this in full respect of human dignity and fundamental rights. Our experience in Europe, is that our cooperation with countries outside the EU, is essential to move from uncontrolled to well managed migration flows. We also all agree, that the reception conditions of migrants in some regions, are unacceptable and we are acting to remedy this situation. In the era of human mobility, we want to contribute to global compacts, that are fair, robust and realistic, and that address all aspects of migration. The EU has, and will continue to lead in that endeavour.