EU: Meeting of Justice and Interior Ministers
One week after the attacks in Paris, the Council of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers of the European Union (EU) met in Brussels on Friday for an extraordinary meeting to strengthen the fight against terrorism. Switzerland was also present.
The Luxembourg Council Presidency had invited to the extraordinary meeting in consultation with the French government. The ministers noted that the Paris attacks were an attack on fundamental European values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. They expressed their appreciation to the French police for their swift and successful work.
In their conclusions, which were adopted unanimously, the ministers state that the most important thing now is to implement measures already adopted against terrorism and to accelerate planned projects. Many instruments are available, especially for the exchange of information. They just had to be used consistently. In particular, the ministers expressed the opinion that the exchange of data with Europol must be improved.
Stronger control at the EU's external borders
The ministers also agreed that effective protection of the EU's external borders is a fundamental prerequisite for ensuring security within the Schengen area. For this reason, EU citizens and persons with the right of residence should now also be allowed to be systematically checked in police databases when entering the country at the external borders.
Ministers further agreed on various measures to improve the exchange of information through the SIS II common search system and through Europol, the European police agency. Europol will launch a dedicated platform for sharing information on jihadi travelers, illicit arms trafficking and terrorist financing, the European Counter Terrorist Center (ECTC), on January 1, 2016. In addition, national money laundering reporting offices are to cooperate more closely with Europol. Switzerland welcomes this work. It already regularly exchanges information with Europol.
Against illegal arms trade
Other measures are aimed at stopping illegal arms trafficking and taking more effective action against terrorist financing. Another project is a system for exchanging passenger name records (PNR), which is currently pending in the European Parliament.
Combating the illegal arms trade is a very important issue for Switzerland. It is therefore participating in the relevant exchange of information between the authorities via the platform at Europol and is also taking part in the discussions on the revision of the EU Weapons Directive. Furthermore, Switzerland is examining whether it wants to participate in the EU's future system for exchanging air passenger data (PNR).
FDJP Information Service
