European Commission
Malmström

With Isabel Allende, Senator from Chile left and Patxi López, Basque President to the right

Today I am participating in the opening of a five-day conference in Bilbao on the themes of remembrance and creating a harmonious society. After fifty years of terror with more than 800 dead and thousands injured, ETA is greatly weakened and the group has announced that they will lay down their arms. It is important to honour all the victims but also to discuss how Basque society is going to move forward and how its people can live together in harmony.

The years of terror have created deep divisions in Basque society but most people are ready to look ahead and plan for a future without violence and terror. The seminar is held in a symbolic place – the TV building in Bilbao, a building that was partially destroyed by an ETA attack 2008. You can read my speech here, only in Spanish though.

Today I participated in a conference organised by the Danish EU Presidency on radicalisation and de-radicalisation of people at risk of being drawn into violent extremism. The discussions focused on methods to identify young people at risk and on exit strategies. The Danes are experienced in these matters and we got to listen to stories from young people about how they escaped from their past as right-wing extremists or as members of violent Islamist movements. It was extremely moving.

Many people from the RAN network were also at the conference. There are now eight working groups within the RAN network that are in full swing and they hope to present some conclusions in the autumn in connection with a ministerial conference.

You can read my speech from today’s conference here.

Now I am off to Gothenburg where I will celebrate Europe Day tomorrow by participating in various events. There will be a breakfast with officials from the city of Gothenburg and I will meet students and participate in a public hearing.

Press Conference after the meeting

The rain was pouring down when we, a bit delayed, arrived to Luxembourg this morning. The road construction made the traffic slow down drastically. It was the first time the Council was held in the new Council building in Luxembourg, which is much nicer than the old one. However the coffee served in the meeting room is not any better than it was in the old building.

The Danish Presidency took us efficiently through the meeting agenda and there were many interesting political discussions. We discussed important issues such as migration flows, the asylum package and cooperation with Turkey for example. We also had a very good discussion on terrorism deriving from current threat assessments and on the proposals on better registration of explosives, the PNR proposal and the preventive measures to combat terrorism i.e. anti-radicalisation. These so called lone wolfs with extremist ideologies, for example Anders Breivik or Mohamed Merah in Toulouse, are today for many member countries the biggest threat. Last year I launched the Anti Radicalisation Network in order to give a platform for experts on this subject, you can read more about the network here.

There was of course also a discussion about the French-German letter on Schengen that all member states had received ahead of the meeting. This should be seen in light of the election campaign in France but Schengen is far too important to be subject for such a debate. The Commission presented a proposal in September to strengthen Schengen, introducing better monitoring and evaluation, in order to make sure that Schengen is not taken hostage and that a reintroduction of border control is not used for domestic political reasons.

If borders are to be temporary reintroduced this must be as a last resort and if it is necessary it  should a common decision, taken at the European level. Schengen is one of the most concrete achievements for the approx 400 million citizens and we have to be very careful in order not to destroy the freedom of movement.

I will stay in Luxembourg over night to meet with the Justice Ministers tomorrow morning to discuss freezing and confiscation of criminal assets.

Today the European Parliament voted for the new agreement on PNR data between the EU and the US. PNR stands for Passenger Name Record, it is the information you provide to the airline or travel agent when booking a flight. This information has been used by law enforcement authorities around the world for many years to identify serious criminals and terrorists. It was used, for example, to get hold of the terrorists behind the planning of a suicide bombing in the subway in New York in 2009, it was also used after the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai and to get hold of the plotter behind the planned attack in Times Square in 2010. This information is also an extremely important tool to identify drug smugglers.

Since 2007 there has been an agreement on how the data is shared and managed between EU countries and the US. This agreement had several flaws and we have for a number of years negotiated with the US on a new agreement to better ensure legal certainty. I presented the outcome of these negotiations last November and now the Council and the Parliament have both approved the agreement. The new agreement offers significant improvements. It restricts and clarifies the purposes for which the information may be used, i.e. serious transnational crimes and terrorism. The period during which PNR data may be stored and used will be reduced from 15 to 10 years for transnational serious crimes, for terrorism it stays at 15 years, and all data should be anonymised after 6 months. The agreement also gives the individuals the right to access their PNR data held in the U.S. and if the information is inaccurate, it shall be changed or removed, something that was not ensured before. I’m glad to have the Council and the Parliament on board with this new agreement and happy that the old agreement will now be replaced with a better one.

Today, as the previous two years, I spoke at a commemoration event ahead of the European Day for victims of terrorism, on Sunday, the 11th of March.

I spoke about the tragic events in Norway last year which led to the death of so many young people. These painful experiences remind us that the threat of terrorism remains very real and that we have to actively work to combat terrorism. We must not only undermine the efforts of terrorists to radicalise our youth and recruit new members, we must also counter their message of destruction and help those who, like Breivik, risk choosing a hateful, radical path.

This is one of the key priorities of my mandate as European Commissioner and is also the reason why I launched the Radicalisation Awareness Network last year. The Network is now working in different groups and I am hoping to already see recommendations and conclusions this summer, ahead of the big Ministerial Conference that I will host in October.

The participants today were survivors and people who have all lost someone due to terrorist activities. There were many very emotional stories told at the event that made a big impact. A young girl told us about the day when, on the way to school, she got her legs blown off by an ETA bomb. She told us about her life today and how she is competing as a skier in the Paralympics. There was also a young survivor form the bombs that went off in London, victims of the Red Brigade activities and a French journalist held hostage in Lebanon, who told us about their experiences.

The survivors will continue to play an important role in countering terrorism and spreading a message of non-violence and reconciliation to prevent others from suffering – it was therefore very important to meet with them today.

The fight against organised crime and terrorism is now being stepped up even more with today’s adoption by the international task force against money laundering and financing of terrorism, FATF, on new global standards. The new standards entail recommendations which all members of the FATF should implement in order to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism, for example better collaboration between countries and tighter regulation of electronic transactions. The FATF has also proposed tougher recommendations on addressing corruption and tax crimes.

Better cooperation at a global level is crucial and most welcome in the fight against organised crime and terrorism. The Commission is now preparing proposals to incorporate the new standards in existing EU legislation, which include the Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive and a Framework Decision from 2001 on criminal offences for money laundering.

With the Ministers of Interior in Wiesbaden

Today I have travelled to Wiesbaden to attend the ‘Innenministerkonferenz’, when all the Interior Ministers from all 16 German Länder meet, twice a year, to discuss common issues. This has been the tradition since 1954 and even the federal Minister of Interior, Hans Pieter Friedrich, attended (though he has no voting rights). I was invited as a guest and we discussed the asylum package, the Data Retention Directive and the fight against terrorism amongst other things. They also told us more about the extremist network that was unveiled just recently and that is believed to be behind at least 10 murders. Since the German Länder have a lot political power in Germany, including when it comes to European affairs, this was an important opportunity to speak to all the Ministers at the same time.

This morning, I also had a meeting with Owe Hahn, who is the Minster of Justice in Hesse.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, the heads of state and government are getting ready for the summit, which begins tonight with a dinner and will continue tomorrow. Top on the agenda is trying to find a way out of the crisis – treaty changes will be discussed. I’ve said it before and will say it again, it is important that we resolve the crisis with all 27 EU countries. I do not want to see Europe divided in two. It looks like there will be treaty changes of some sort or at least a decision on this matter is expected. It is not a quick fix and it is important that we don’t get stuck in endless ratification procedures in the Member States. We need to focus on the important measure to stimulate growth and make the necessary reforms.

Press conference after the meeting with the US Ministers

I am in a rainy but warm Washington for a meeting with the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security. We meet twice a year, once in Europe and once in the U.S. My colleague Viviane Reding and the Polish Presidency were also taking part in the meeting. It has recently been a major government reshuffle in Poland which means that the ministers on my issues, Home Affairs, have been replaced. This is a bit unfortunate, at the end of the Presidency and it could risk delaying negotiations which are now in its final stage.

At the meeting yesterday with the US Ministers a series of issues of common concern were discussed: cybercrime, terrorism, data protection, visa issues, etc. In addition, we had time to talk a about American politics, the various Republican candidates, the super committee of the Congress and the new sanctions against Iran.

 Washington was unusually empty, as the Americans are about to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Yesterday, good news came from Spain – terrorist organization ETA announced that they once and for all will lay down their weapons and cease their armed activity. This is a historic and most welcome development. Over the last few years, ETA has been severely weakened, along with support for the organisation and its methods. 800 people have been killed by ETA since the sixties. I strongly hope that this decision from ETA will bring lasting peace and reconciliation to citizens who, for far too long, have been held hostages by violence. Now, the definitive cessation of armed activity needs to be implemented through a credible and verifiable process.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso has also commented on ETA’s decision. From a Commission perspective, we will continue our work against terrorism through, for example, methods of tracking terrorism finances as well as through our network against radicalisation in Europe.

Today, I am in my home town, where I will soon accept an honorary doctor’s title at the University of Gothenburg. This is incredibly honouring, also because I once received my doctor’s degree at this very university, at the faculty of social sciences, 13 years ago. Despite various political positions I have been returning regularly to the department of political science to lecture, something that I will keep doing in the years to come. On Monday, I’ll speak to students about the present crisis in Europe. I expect the EU summit on Sunday to be an important subject in our discussions.

On Sunday the 11 of September, 10 years will have past since the horrible attacks in New York. The day will of course be commemorated all around the world. The day brings back a lot of memories and I imagine we all still remember what we were doing the day of the attack, when the planes flew into the World Trade Centre towers, and nearly 3,000 people died. Terrorism still remains a threat today. Increasingly, attacks are taking place where the terrorist is a single person. We do not know enough to fully understand the processes that lead to radicalisation and make people commit violence, be their acts motivated by religious, left- or right extremism.

It is therefore of particular importance for me to be able to launch the Radicalisation Awareness Network today, which will bring people together who are working at the local level to prevent radicalisation. All over Europe there are field workers, researchers, teachers, community leaders, religious and youth leaders who are working to try to identify and help individuals that risk becoming radicalized and committing violent acts. Today we are connecting these people in a European network. The network will share methods and experiences but also assist the Commission and Member States in preventing terrorism. The Commission funds a secretariat that will assist the Network. Of course you can never find completely foolproof methods to prevent terrorism but I believe that this network can serve as an extremely important tool in preventive work. In addition to representatives from Member States, Norway was also invited to join the network so that others might learn something from their horrific experiences from this summer. You can read my speech here and see the Press Conference here.