Statement of Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos at EP Plenary session debate on 'Renewing the EU Internal Security Strategy'

Strasbourg, 16 December 2014

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Dear Honourable Members,

Before we begin our debate, I would like to express my sorrow and repugnance for the loss of innocent lives today in Pakistan.

In a civilised world, brutal attacks like the one today in a school in Pakistan are an insult to humanity and to whatever human beings across the world hold sacred.

This horrific event and the ruthless murder of children depict the abhorrent face of terrorism.

Terrorism is a global threat, a global menace.

In the EU we are committed to the struggle against terrorism and we are working closely with our partners so as to protect, the right to life of all people irrespective of race, religion and nationality.

Honourable Members,

Thank you for the oral question and for this opportunity to reflect with you on a renewed EU Internal Strategy.

The renewed EU Internal Security Strategy - the new European Agenda on Security - should be a common agenda.

When the security of our citizens, their rights, our democratic values, the wellbeing of our societies and our economy are at stake the Union's Institutions need to work hand in hand.

We need to find a common ground on the main threats, principles and priorities when renewing the Internal Security Strategy.

The Commission sees a clear need to have all EU institutions working together to formulate and subsequently implement the future European Agenda on Security and wishes to facilitate this process.

In reviewing the Internal Security Strategy the Commission will build:

• 1. 

  on the preparatory work undertaken in the course of this year,
• 2. 

  on the Justice and Home Affairs Council Conclusions adopted on 5 December
• 3. 

  and, of course, on the resolution the Parliament intends to adopt tomorrow.

These contributions will guide our work in the coming months.

I suggest that once the Commission Communication is issued, the European Parliament and the Council engage in a dialogue to find common ground on the future of European security to provide effective, swift, practical and achievable solutions.

Your resolution sets out a broad security approach based on fundamental principles instead of a listing of specific legislative and policy actions.

This corresponds with the ambition of the Commission to provide a strategy-driven agenda which will connect to existing or already envisaged measures.

The resolution also highlights the importance of finding a balance between continuity and change.

We need to foster and strengthen what works, and adapt things where evolving or expected developments require new actions or revising existing ones.

Implementation of legislation and consolidation of achievements, as well as enhanced practical cooperation will be priorities for future work.

Consequently, monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of legislation and policies is essential.

1st December 2014 heralded the era in which Justice and Home Affairs policies are finally set on an equal footing with other EU policies thanks to the full application of the judicial review by the Court of Justice and the enforcement powers of the Commission.

This will benefit the required monitoring and evaluation and will enhance citizens' rights and legal security.

Close monitoring of the implementation of newly adopted instruments on "procedural rights of defendants and victims' rights"and an improved application of existing instruments on "judicial cooperation in criminal matters" will strengthen the “judicial dimension” of the Internal Security Strategy - a point which has been also highlighted by your resolution.

The Commission intends to continue submitting to the European Parliament and the Council regular reports on actions taken under the European Agenda on Security.

This would assist you in monitoring the implementation of the strategy and will strengthen its democratic oversight.

As regards the content of the European Agenda on Security the Commission cannot at this stage go into the details of what its future Communication will set out.

However, there are no doubts that we have to continue to fight international and cross-border crime, prevent terrorism, address radicalisation and recruitment, work against cybercrime, to protect children from abuse and increase Europe's resilience to crises and disasters.

This is not new. What is new is that the actions currently covered have to be adapted to address evolving challenges and threats.

The actions should be based on an intelligence-led approach providing guidance on how to effectively tackle rapidly evolving security challenges.

A coherent set of risk and threat analyses by Europol and other relevant EU institutions and bodies in close cooperation with the Member States should operationalize this approach.

This requires close strategic and operational cooperation and the exchange of information between law enforcement, judicial authorities and EU agencies is fundamental.

We have to work more closely on prevention and protection, access to information and information exchange, innovation and research, and ensure a clearer link with the external dimension and cooperation.

A citizen-centred approach and the integration of fundamental rights in all actions should be guiding principles of the European Agenda on Security.

The Commission will be particularly attentive to the implementation of all envisaged measures and instruments, and will assess their compatibility with fundamental rights as enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Respecting the Charter requires that measures which interfere with fundamental rights are proportionate.

In the context of that balancing, fighting threats to public safety or indeed fundamental rights of others are legitimate objectives.

Trust and confidence in institutions is also a matter of concern. Security policies must be seen as serving the citizens to keep legitimacy and support.

Citizens need to be better informed on the problems, and implementation of internal security policies is not only essential for making instruments effective, but also to strengthen the credibility of the institutions before the citizens and demonstrate to the victims that action is taken.

To ensure that EU internal security also means acting beyond EU borders and in cooperation with third country partners, important steps to integrate external and internal security measures have been already taken. These are for example the establishment of the Cyber Security Strategy.

But much more needs to be done and those measures need to be followed up and further put into practice, for instance by strengthening the operational link between the EU internal and external security policies.

I fully support the emphasis that you put on having an integrated, comprehensive and holistic approach to priority areas.

Different policies and actions, also going beyond the public sector, need to be integrated if we wish to tackle security concerns in all areas effectively while facing financial constraints and safeguarding fundamental rights.

The renewed EU Agenda on Security could also benefit from research and innovation.

The EU needs to continue mobilising the tools essential for security preparedness and resilience, in particular Information and Communication Technologies and technologies in the forensic field, whilst respecting fundamental rights.

It could be considered to use its research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 and pursue cooperation between the law enforcement and private sector, notably to develop more technological autonomy.

Finally, increased legitimacy in eyes of European citizens goes through the full association of the European Parliament and the involvement of national Parliaments.

In addition to formal reports on the progress of the Strategy's implementation the Commission is committed to engage in a regular dialogue with the parliament and to debate relevant matters with national Parliaments.

I look forward to working together with you and the Council on this new European Agenda on Security.

STATEMENT/14/2762

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