EU needs better tools to fight crime, terrorism and extremism

The EU Internal Security Strategy in Action, which was adopted by the European Commission on November 22, 2010, outlined priorities for the EU to focus on for the coming four years, which are (1) the disruption of international criminal networks, (2) the prevention of terrorism and addressing radicalisation and recruitment, (3) raising the levels of security for citizens and businesses in cyberspace, (4) strengthening security through border management and (5) increasing Europe’s resilience to crises and disasters.

On November 25, 2011 the Directorate-General Home Affairs of the European Commission published the first implementation report on the EU Internal Security Strategy detailing concrete actions that will be taken in 2012. The report highlights progress on the fight against organised crime, terrorism and radicalisation, cybercrime, border management, crisis and disaster management and the external dimension of EU security.

Accompanying the report, DG Home Affairs commissioned a Eurobarometer survey on internal security providing a detailed analysis of the way in which internal security is perceived both at EU level and within individual EU Member States. For this survey, 26,840 European citizens aged 15 and above were interviewed in all 27 Member States of the European Union. The main outcomes of the survey are as follows:

• The main challenges to European security, as identified by at least 1 in 5 Europeans, are:
• The economic and financial crises (34%)
• Terrorism (33%)
• Organised crime (21%)
• The main challenges to national security, as identified by at least 1 in 5 Europeans, are:
• The economic and financial crises (33%)
• Terrorism (25%)
• Poverty (24%)
• Organised crime (22%)
• 4 out of 10 Europeans want the EU to undertake more action to fight these threats. Only around 50% of Europeans believe that enough is being done to tackle these challenges at national and European level.
• 75% of Europeans believe that internal EU security is linked to external events and developments, although there is considerable variation between EU Member States. The US are most often cited as the EU’s main partner in security, followed by Russia, China and Turkey.