Activities of Petr JEŽEK related to 2015/2063(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. Whereas the rise of terrorism and foreign fighters has increased the intolerance towards ethnic and religious communities in several countries in Europe; considering that a holistic approach to fight against discrimination, in general, and islamophobia and anti- Semitism, in particular, are complementary when working for specific prevention of terrorism extremism.

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the Commission to establish as quickly as possible a ~~global strategy to prevent the radicalisation and recruitment of European citizens, taking into account all vectors of radicalisation~~n action plan to implement the EU strategy for combating radicalisation and recruitment to terrorism, on the basis of the exchange of best practice within the European Union and the evaluation of measures undertaken in the Member States; takes the view that the Commission should develop an intensive communication strategy on preventing the radicalisation and recruitment of European citizens by terrorist organisations; (The EU strategy for combating radicalisation and recruitment to terrorism was adopted by the Council of the European Union in 2005 and revised in 2008 and 2014)

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Gérard DEPREZ, Louis MICHEL, Nathalie GRIESBECK, Petr JEŽEK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the Commission to establish as quickly as possible a global strategy to prevent the radicalisation and recruitment of European citizens as well as non-EU nationals living in Europe, taking into account all vectors of ~~radicalisation~~this process, on the basis of the exchange of best practice within the European Union and the evaluation of measures undertaken in the Member States; takes the view that the Commission should ~~develop an intens~~promote an effective participation of civil society organisations, as well as the consultation and exchange of good practices with organisations with experience on the field of terrorist radicalisation, and develop an effective communication strategy on preventing the radicalisation and recruitment of European citizens by terrorist organisations;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Calls upon the Member States to strengthen action aimed at preventing radicalisation and the recruitment of terrorists by updating national prevention policies and putting networks of practitioners in place on the basis of the ten priority areas for action as identified in the EU strategy for combating radicalisation and recruitment to terrorism (doc. 9956/14).

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Gérard DEPREZ, Louis MICHEL, Nathalie GRIESBECK, Petr JEŽEK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Calls on the Member States to coordinate their strategies and share the information and experience at their disposal, to implement goods practices, at both a national and a European level, and to cooperate with a view to taking new steps in combating radicalisation and recruitment to terrorism.

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. ~~calls on the Commission to establish a common definition of ‘foreign fighters’ and to carry out an in-depth study of the process and the various influences which lead to radicalisation;~~Believes that the additional protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism is the reference document that should be used by the Member States and the European institutions with a view to arriving at a common definition for the criminalisation of persons to be considered ‘foreign fighters’. Calls on the Commission to carry out an in-depth study of the process and the various influences which lead to radicalisation; (The additional protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism defines five acts that it asks the Member States to establish as criminal offences with a view to responding to the threat posed by persons travelling abroad for the purpose of committing, contributing to or participating in terrorist offences, or the providing or receiving of training for terrorism in the territory of another State;)

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Stresses the importance of making the fullest use of existing instruments to combat the radicalisation and recruitment of European citizens by terrorist organisations; recommends that more use should be made of European funds to that end; stresses the major role which can be played by the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) in taking on this objective of stamping out the radicalisation of European citizens;the Commission and the Member States make use of available means, particularly under the Internal Security Fund (ISF), via the SIF Police instrument, in order to support projects and measures aimed at preventing radicalisation; stresses the major role which can be played by the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) in taking on this objective of stamping out the radicalisation of European citizens; (The SIF Police instrument has a budget of just over EUR 1 billion for the period 2014-2020, EUR 662 million of which is channelled through shared management, EUR 342 million of which is channelled through direct management.)

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Petr JEŽEK, Gérard DEPREZ, Louis MICHEL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Calls on the Commission to publish guidelines on measures to be implemented in Europe's prisons aimed at preventing Europeans from becoming radicalised; recommends that the Member States segregate radicalised inmates within their prisons, whilst maintaining their rights and freedoms and not inciting hatred towards the system from the like-minded or yet hesitant sympathisers, in order to prevent radicalism from being imposed through intimidation on other inmates and to contain radicalisation in those institutions;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Supports the establishment of specialised European training for prison staff in order to teach them to detect radical behaviour; stresses the importance of appropriately training and recruiting prison chaplains so that they can not only adequately meet prisoners' cultural needs in prisons, but also counter radical discourseto the entire prison staff, religious staff and NGO's personnel who interact with prisoners in order to teach them to detect, prevent and deal with behaviours which tend to terrorist extremism.;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Recalls that the internet plays a significant role in fuelling the radicalisation of European citizens, as it facilitates the rapid, large-scale distribution of hate messages and praise for terrorism; expresses concern at the impact that such messages praising terrorism have on young people, who are particularly vulnerable; calls for a dialogue to be launched at European level with the internet giants with a view to legally preventing ~~the online distribution of hate messages and to eradicating them swiftly~~, monitoring, tracking and swiftly eradicating hate messages and notifying the respective authorities about them;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Feels that the internet giants should be made aware of their responsibilities so that they delete illegal content as quickly as possible; believes that the Member States should plan ~~for the possibility of bringing criminal prosecutions against digital actors who do not take action in response to the spread of illicit messages~~to take measures to closely cooperate with Internet servers/providers and to act against companies not reacting when having acknowledgement of the distribution orf messages praising terrorism ~~on their internet platforms~~; believes that refusal or failure to cooperate on the part of internet platforms which allow such messages to ~~circulate should be considered an act of complicity with praising terrorism and should consequently be punished~~remain online should be sanctioned if the agreed previous measures to withdraw this messages are not put in action;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Feels, however, that the internet is an effective platform for spreading discourse opposed to hate speech and praise for terrorism; calls on the digital giants to cooperate with the Member States and with organisations whose fields of expertise are terrorist deradicalisation or evaluation of hate speeches in order to take part in the spread of prevention messages calling for the development of critical thinking and for a process of deradicalisation;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Gérard DEPREZ, Louis MICHEL, Nathalie GRIESBECK, Petr JEŽEK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. States that the internet giants, through internet referencing, have the power to cooperate with Member States and their respective online counter-terrorism units to promote radicalisation prevention messages aimed at countering messages that praise terrorism; feels that it is thus their duty to highlight messages that oppose hate speech and praise for terrorism, thereby making online radicalisation more difficult;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Feels that every Member State should set up a special unit tasked with flagging illicit content on the internet and with facilitating the detection and removal of content that does not conform to the host internet platform's charter and rules; ~~proposes that such units could~~welcomes the decision by the Council of Ministers of 12 and 13 March to create within Europol a European unit (EU IRU), tasked with flagging content on the internet, and encourages national bodies responsible for flagging and actors in the digital world to cooperate closely with a Europ~~ean u~~ol for this purpose. (The terms of reference of the Unit are~~sponsible for dealing with flagging;~~ set out in a note adopted by the Council of Ministers on 12 March 2015 (Doc 6606/15) They are: to coordinate the identification of terrorist and extremist content circulating on the Internet, in cooperation with the appropriate partners; support and deliver rapid and effective flagging, in close collaboration with the internet industry; support the work of the competent national authorities by providing them with strategic and operational analyses; act as a European centre of excellence for the activities set out above.

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13a. Welcomes the establishment with effect from 1 January 2016 of the European Counter-Terrorism Centre (ECTC), of which the European unit tasked with flagging content will be a part. Stresses the need to provide the financial resources required to deliver the additional tasks conferred on Europol in connection with the establishment of the European Counter-Terrorism Centre. Calls for the European Parliament to be duly involved in the composition of the Centre, its terms of reference, tasks and finance.

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Petr JEŽEK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Believes that online radicalisation cannot be stamped out without reinforcing the tools available to the EU to combat cybercrime; recommends that that the European Union strengthen the mandate of the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) particularly by facilitating exchanges between Europol and private sector bodies so that it can play an effective role in better protecting European citizens against online threats and detecting the digital processes used by terrorist organisations; (Given the role played by the internet in radicalisation and as over 80% of ICT infrastructure belongs to the private sector, it would appear essential that Europol and the European Cybercrime Centre should be able to exchange information with the internet giants in order to be able to successfully deliver on their responsibilities.

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Stresses that schools and education have an important role to play in preventing terrorist radicalisation; recalls the crucial role that schools play in helping to promote integration and develop critical thinking; calls on the Member States to investigate the ~~possibility of introducing, where it does not already exist, education~~inclusion of courses and academic programmes which encourage the understanding of the EU common values and the history onf religio~~us issues in schools~~ns, aiming to create a genuine European citizenship through a positive identity;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Petr JEŽEK, Gérard DEPREZ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Calls on the European Union to carry out a communication campaign to raise the awareness of young people, as well as supervisory staff, as regards issues of radicalisation; calls on the Member States to introduce specialist training for teaching staff so that they can detect any suspicious changes in behaviour and properly supervise young people who are at risk of being recruited by terrorist organisations; suggests that school counsellors should provide necessary support for pupil targets of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic expressions, which may lead to their isolation from the majority of students, leaving them vulnerable to radical ideas and recruiters;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Petr JEŽEK, Ana GOMES, Gérard DEPREZ, Louis MICHEL

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Feels that those local actors have a crucial role to play in the development of projects adapted to their towns or organisations, in addition to their role as an integrating factor for those European citizens who feel at odds with society and tempted by terrorist radicalisation; feels that the Member States should support the establishment of structures facilitating, in particular, the supervision of young people, as well as exchanges with families, schools, hospitals, universities and so on; reminds that these measures can only be implemented through long- term social investment programmes; notes that such associations and organisations, which do not bear the mark of governments, sometimes achieve better results in reintegrating citizens who are on the path towards radicalisation into society;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20a. Highlights the importance of including the testimony of victims of islamist terrorism in public communication policies, as it would counter the impact of recruitment propaganda spread by terrorist organisations via the Internet.

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Reiterates its desire to see the so-called ‘'EU PNR' directive ~~swiftly adopted before the end of 2015 in order to enable the movements of European citizens likely to adopt a terrorist ideology to be tracked~~adopted in full compliance with fundamental rights and freedoms of European citizens and free from discriminatory practices or any ideological, religious or ethnic stigmatization; recalls, however, that the EU PNR will not be enough to prevent the recruitment of European citizens by terrorist organiszations;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Reiterates its desire to see the so-called ‘EU PNR’ directive swiftly adopted before the end of 2015 in order to enable the movements of European citizens ~~likely to adopt a terrorist ideology~~suspected of serious terrorist or transnational offences to be tracked; recalls, however, that the EU PNR will not be enough to prevent the recruitment of European citizens by terrorist organisations;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Insists on the absolute necessity of stepping up the exchange of information between the law enforcement authorities inof the Member States, in particular by optimising the use of and contributions to the Schengen Information System and Europol's 'Focal Point Travellers' on European citizens who have been radicalised; stresses that stepping up the exchange of information between law enforcement authorities will also entail reinforcing the role of European Union agencies, such as Europol and Eurojust; ('Focal Point Travellers' is a file for the collection and analysis of information on foreign terrorist fighters and related terrorist networks. Set up in May 2014 by EUROPOL's counter-terrorism unit, it collects information from all Member States and holds over 6,000 names of individuals associated with terrorism (facilitators, recruiters, funders, those likely to leave, fighters etc.))

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. ~~Believes that criminalising terrorist acts carried out by foreign fighters requires~~Hence invites the European Union to work on the set-up of judicial cooperation agreements with third countries to facilitate the collection of evidence in ~~thir~~said countries ~~to be possible; calls, therefore, on the European Union to work on establishing judicial cooperation agreements with third countries in order to facilitate such processe~~as long as the Fundamental Rights, especially those regarding effective due process, are ensured by all parts;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)

25a. Asks of the Commission an analysis of the interpretative framing displayed by terrorist organizations such as Daesh so as to develop a strategic communication policy aimed at countering any attempt to establish a public accounting presenting the use of violence as something completely legitimate;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)

25b. Asks for the promotion of style manuals by public media aimed at reflecting and avoiding the acceptance of the interpretative framing and keywords used by terrorist organizations in their aim of public manipulation;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28

28. Reiterates that making good use of existing instruments such as the SIS and VIS systems constitutes the first step in stepping up external border security in order to identify EU citizens ~~who may be leaving for conflict zones~~and foreigners living in the EU who may be leaving to engage in terrorist actions, terrorist training or to take part in any unconventional armed conflict as part of a terrorist organization;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Stresses once more the vital importance of the European Union establishing close cooperation with non-EU countries, notably transit ~~countries and those to which foreign fighters are heading~~and destination countries, insofar as this is possible, in order to be able to identify EU citizens leaving to fight for terrorist organisations or returning thereafter;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Is convinced that for such enhanced cooperation to be established the Commission, and the European External Action Service (EEAS) in particular, need to make greater linguistic efforts in terms of Arabic- speaking staff and spokespersons so as to be understood by every community beyond the EU's borders, specially by Arabic communities; considers it essential that the EUʼs call to combat radicalisation can be heard beyond its own borders;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)

31a. Welcomes the Commission's allocation in April 2015 of a budget of 10 million euro to finance a programme of assistance to partner countries to counter radicalisation in the Sahel-Maghreb and stem the flow of foreign fighters from North Africa, the Middle East and the Western Balkans. (A first tranche of 5 million euro to fund technical assistance to enhance the capacities of criminal justice officials to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate cases of foreign fighters or would-be foreign fighters. A second tranche of 5 million euro to finance countering radicalisation programmes in the Sahel and Maghreb region.)

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. States that a comprehensive approach to preventing the radicalisation and recruitment of EU citizens by terrorist organisations can only be successfully put in place if accompanied by measures to deradicalise EU citizens beguiled by terrorist rhetoric; calls on the European Union therefore to facilitate the sharing by Member States of good practices in regard to putting in place deradicalisation structures to prevent EU citizens leaving the EU or to control their return thereto with every caution so as to avoid any possible deception towards administrative or judicial authorities;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Suggests that Member States examine the idea of including mentors or counselling assistants in the process to deradicalise EU citizens who have returned from fighting for terrorist organisations, to help support them in their reintegration into society;

2015/07/03
Committee: LIBE