A new EU definition of potential terrorists means member states can now collect and share information on individuals they deem suspect, based on a new informal definition that was agreed with no democratic scrutiny, reports Statewatch.
The EU and its forerunners have targeted radicalism and “radicalisation” for decades. This agenda gained a firmer hold in 2011 when the European Commission established the Radicalisation Awareness Network.
In June this year, the Commission launched a new €60 million (pdf) “Knowledge Hub” to further expand the agenda. The hub aims “to collaborate in a new way at the EU level to address the challenges posed by radicalisation.”
These plans build upon a recent “shared understanding” of who EU authorities consider a “potential terrorist or violent extremist threat,” a concept encapsulated in the document by the German term Gefährder. The German authorities introduced the phrase and the topic of “potential terrorists” into EU institutions.
The Council’s internal security committee (COSI) approved this “shared understanding” in May this year (pdf).
Read more on Statewatch.
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