Anxiety about terrorism is growing in Europe after the latest attack in Paris, which caused one death (a German tourist) and two injuries. In particular because we are preparing to enter the Christmas holiday season and the risk that some lone wolf goes into action cannot be ruled out, especially now that hostilities in Gaza have resumed intensity. EU Interior Ministers will address the issue tomorrow in Brussels during the scheduled Council meeting. In particular there will be a focus on accelerated repatriations for individuals deemed “a danger” and on the “protection” of public spaces and places of worship. The ministers will receive “an update” from the Intelligence Advisory Committee on the current state of the risks and will then discuss “the implications for the internal security” of the EU given the situation in the Middle East. “It is undeniable that what is happening in Gaza is already having an effect on the domestic dimension,” explains a senior European source. Naturally, the Member States are primarily responsible for public order and prevention, but at a European level we are moving to strengthen the system in general. The attack in Brussels last October had generated an initial reaction.
“Joint efforts across the European Union to fight terrorism will be intensified by judicial authorities sharing a wider range of information on terrorism cases with Eurojust,” Eurojust noted recently after the change to the regulation. The judicial response is part of the solution. It is no coincidence that the Justice Council took a further step, approving its negotiating position on the proposed law relating to the transfer of criminal proceedings. The proposal, in fact, aims to prevent useless parallel proceedings and to contribute to the efficient and correct administration of criminal justice in the Member States, with tangible benefits for the fight against terrorism, which is now configured as a transnational crime. «Where there are no rules, putting rules is always positive», commented the Deputy Minister of Justice Francesco Paolo Sisto. «We have witnessed cases of blocking of proceedings also with the risk of impunity precisely due to this lack of clarity on who had jurisdiction over what, for example on European arrest warrants that were not executed. Today – he specifies – with this general agreement this ghost is exorcised”.