European Commission: Europol Can Now Warn Against Terrorist

Europol can now warn EU countries about jihadis and other dangerous persons if it is up to the European Commission.

 

The EU body responsible for promoting cooperation between European police forces should be given more powers to conduct the fight against terrorism better. Brussels wants to do more quickly on this since Muslim extremists struck last month in France and Austria.

Now Europol sometimes receives information from countries outside the EU and from international organizations about dangerous people, but the agency cannot share it with countries it concerns.

In future, Europol should be able to enter this valuable data into a database used by the police and security services in the EU. For example, they look at whether an arriving air passenger poses a danger.

The committee also wants to give Europol more room to cooperate with the new European Public Prosecution Service, with countries outside the EU and with companies. After all, extremists misuse the services of internet companies, for example, to recruit followers, plan attacks or spread propaganda, says the executive committee of the EU.

Businesses should be able to alert Europol so that the agency based in The Hague can alert the concerned Member States. Europol should also be able to request personal data from suspects.

Furthermore, cases should no longer fall between two quarters because it is not clear which Member State is concerned. The Commission also wants to use Europol in such cases. Besides, the agency is allowed to work with large datasets in the fight against terrorism.