(THE HAGUE) – A new Counter-Terrorism Register, launched Thursday by Eurojust, the EU’s agency on judicial cooperation, will help EU countries exchange information on terrorist offences in a quick, efficient and uniform manner.
EU Member States already share information with each other on the suspects of terrorist offences who are under criminal investigation or prosecution in their countries.
The new Counter-Terrorism Register will enable them to do so more efficiently and effectively, as Eurojust will be able to better detect links between terrorist cases in different Member States and provide timely and proactive feedback to national authorities as well as follow-up measures needed.
“Eurojust plays a key role in supporting the fight against cross-border crime and terrorism,” said Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova: “Fast exchange of data can make or break effective investigation and this new tool will put Eurojust on stronger footing to protect Europeans against terrorism.”
Speaking at the official launch of the Register, Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King said: “The new Counter-Terrorism Register will help judges and prosecutors to proactively establish links between cases to ensure that criminals and terrorists do not go unpunished.
Eurojust President Mr Ladislav Hamran said: “The Counter-Terrorism Register is a major step forward in the fight against terrorism. Now that terrorists operate more and more in cross-border networks, the EU must do the same. By providing swift feedback on cross-border links between judicial proceedings, we can better coordinate and speed up actions against suspects of terrorist activities. Having the right information is of essential importance to combat terrorism and will reinforce the EU as an area of justice and security.”
The new tool forms part of a building block in the EU’s ‘Security Union’. Following the terrorist attacks in France in Paris and Saint-Denis in November 2015, cross-border links between suspects were immediately detected. France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands subsequently took the initiative to set up a register at Eurojust to collect judicial information on terrorist activities and networks and identify coordination needs.
The Register is a result of Eurojust developing the initiative into a tool available to all EU countries.
