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EU: Council of the European Union: Justice and Home Affairs: LIMITE documents: Policy Cycle, Med Information Exchange Centres, Internal Security report, Radicalisation & Recruitment & Sanctions Mechanism
29 September 2014
• EU: OPERATIONAL COOPERATION WITH NO PARLIAMENTARY ACCOUNTABILITY: Council of the European Union:
Follow-up on the implementation of the EU priorities in combatting serious and organised international crime (LIMITE, 13579-14, 26-9-14, pdf):
"The Joint Action Days, organised from 15 to 23 September 2014 in the framework of the current policy cycle, involved law enforcement officers from all 28 EU Member States as well as Australia, Colombia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and the USA (ICE and CBP).... How far have these priorities been linked up with national crime priorities, both in defining the EU priorities and in implementing these EU priorities through national actions?"
• EU: Council of the European Union: Another Council initiated operational initiative to create additional "information exchange centres" in the Mediterranean (“antennas” for the exchange of information on specific criminal phenomena). This is to counter trafficking, smuggling and organised crime which is already one of the five priorities identified within the follow-up of the Task Force Mediterranean.
The first two would be one in the bordering area between Greece and Turkey and the other in Northern Africa, possibly in Tunisia or Libya and second strengthening links and information exchange of involved countries with the Italian law enforcement authorities through the implementation of homologous centres in the regions of Apulia and Sicily.
It would conclude with the development of a net of the new offices with the existing cooperation centres, through the International Operations Room of the Italian International Police Cooperation Service, "making an optimum use of the information resources." Here "information resources" includes intelligence too.
See:
Proposal for establishing law enforcement information exchange centres in the Mediterranean area in order to counter cross-border criminality towards the European Union (Limite, doc no 12929-14, pdf)
• The Council highlights its new priority for operational planning - there are no mechanism for accountability in national and European Parliaments for "operations":
"The Committee also debated its future role with a view to becoming more operational and increasing its visibility both at EU and national level."
See: Draft report to the European Parliament and national Parliaments on the proceedings of the Standing Committee on operational cooperation on internal security for the period January 2013 - June 2014 (Limite, doc no 11872-14, pdf)
• Draft Guidelines for the EU Strategy for Combating Radicalisation and Recruitment to Terrorism (Limite, doc no 13001-14, pdf)
• EU Sanctions Mechanism to optimize consistency in the application and monitoring of EU restrictive measures (Limite, 12977-14,pdf): Includes: "Make available professional communication and media skills to credible civil society representatives who are well-placed to challenge and counter terrorist narratives" and "Reduce availability to and impact of online material that promotes radicalisation to terrorism" and "Make use of the existing instruments to support fostering critical thinking skills, such as the Creative Europe Programme and Erasmus+, as appropriate"