9 Violent radicalisation and recruitment
to terrorism
| (26889)
12773/05
COM(05) 313
| Commission Communication on terrorist recruitment: addressing the factors contributing to violent radicalisation
|
| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 21 September 2005
|
| Deposited in Parliament | 7 October 2005
|
| Department | Home Office |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 31 October 2005
|
| Previous Committee Report | None
|
| To be discussed in Council | December 2005
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information awaited
|
Background
9.1 In November 2004, the European Council adopted a five-year
programme on freedom, security and justice in the EU (the Hague
Programme). The Hague Programme says that:
"The Council should, by the end of 2005, develop a long-term
strategy to address the factors which contribute to radicalisation
and recruitment for terrorist activities."[18]
The document
9.2 The Communication is a contribution by the Commission to the
strategy for which the European Council called. The Commission
emphasises that its proposals are intended to be complementary
to, and supportive of, the efforts of the Member States. It believes,
however, that:
"the EU, with its span of policies in various areas that
could be used to address violent radicalisation, is well placed
to gather and spread at European level the relevant expertise
that is being acquired by the Member States in addressing this
problem."
9.3 The Communication is structured under the following headings:
- broadcast media;
- the internet;
- education, youth and active European citizenship;
- integration, inter-cultural dialogue and dialogue
with religions;
- law enforcement authorities and security services;
- expert networks; and
- monitoring and collection of data; external relations.
Under each heading, the Communication comments on
existing EU legislation, and proposals which the Commission has
presented, which could be used and built on to deter radicalisation
and recruitment to terrorism.
9.4 For example, the Commission:
- notes that EC law already prohibits
the broadcasting of incitement to hatred on grounds of race, sex,
religion or nationality;[19]
- notes that action to remove terrorist propaganda
from the internet can be taken under the eCommerce Directive;[20]
- refers to the scope for the Community's education,
culture and youth programmes to be used to grant-aid projects
to promote tolerance, encourage inter-cultural understanding and
deter violent behaviour;
- comments that the failure to integrate third-country
nationals into Member States can provide fertile ground for violent
radicalisation to develop. The Commission says that the EU's legislation
on non-discrimination can contribute to effective integration.[21]
It also refers to the current proposal for the creation of a European
Integration Fund[22]
and for a European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in 2008;
- says that schemes should be considered to engage
the police more closely with young people. Moreover, Member States
which promote the recruitment to the police of people from ethnic
minorities should share best practice with other Member States;
and
- comments on the scope to deter violent radicalisation
through the EC's development aid to third-countries and the European
Neighbourhood Policy.
9.5 The Commission proposes four specific actions:
i) It intends to organise a conference on the
media's role in relation to violent radicalisation and terrorism.
ii) It is willing to gather and disseminate information
about Member States' approaches to dealing with the use of the
internet by terrorists "and to examine the need of adopting
a guidance document".[23]
iii) It will also "gather and assess the
Member States' best practices [on cooperation between law enforcement
authorities at the operational, intelligence and policy levels]
and consolidate them into periodic guidelines for all the Member
States".[24]
iv) It will procure new research by establishing
a network of experts, inviting tenders for studies and utilising
the expertise of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and
Xenophobia.
9.6 The Annex to the Communication provides the Commission's
preliminary analysis of possible factors contributing to violent
radicalisation and terrorist recruitment.
The Government's view
9.7 The Secretary of State for the Home Department
(Mr Charles Clarke) tells us that the Communication makes a valuable
contribution to the long-term EU Strategy and Action Plan which
the UK Presidency is developing through the Council's working
groups. He says that the Council aims to agree the Strategy and
Action Plan by December.
9.8 The Minster adds that:
"The Commission makes several suggestions that
approach the limits of its current competence. For example suggestions
[5(ii) and (iii) above] imply that the Commission could assess
and coordinate the work of Member State national security services,
which is not within its competence. We feel that the Commission
could add value to this area by examining the application of EC
law (for example the E-Commerce Directive) and making recommendations
entirely within its remit."
Conclusion
9.9 We share the Minister's view that the Communication
makes a helpful contribution to thinking on a subject of great
importance to the UK, the EU and beyond. We also agree with him,
however, that some of the proposals in the Communication appear
to be outside the Commission's competence. We note that Title
VI of the EU Treaty gives the Commission no separate role in police
and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, but provides only
that it is to be "fully associated" with the work in
the areas referred to in that Title. Accordingly, we strongly
endorse the Minister's view that the Commission's contribution
should be confined to matters within its competence. We shall
have this in mind when we scrutinise the draft Strategy and Action
Plan on violent radicalisation and recruitment to terrorism.
9.10 We shall keep the Communication under scrutiny
pending our consideration of the Strategy and Action Plan.
18 European Council Conclusions of 4/5 November 2005,
Annex 1, page 23. Back
19
Directive 97/36/EC (the Television without Frontiers Directive). Back
20
Directive 2000/31/EC. Back
21
Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC. Back
22
See (26547) 8690/05: HC 34-viii (2005-06), para 7 (2 November
2005). Back
23
Commission Communication, page 5. Back
24
Ibid, page 8. Back
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