Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-23-Speech-2-009"
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"en.20080923.4.2-009"2
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Mr President, before anything else, I would like to thank all my fellow Members who have worked with me on this dossier, because our cooperation has been truly excellent throughout the procedure. The text we will be voting on today is a particularly sensitive one because talking about combating terrorism spells danger for the rights of European citizens, whether this danger comes from the terrorists themselves or from the freedom-destroying potential of the measures adopted to combat the problem.
The scale of the terrorist threat has indeed had the potential to be exaggerated in recent years by certain governments in order to justify the adoption of security policies, whether domestic or international. The threat is nevertheless real and the European Union must play its part in the efforts made to prevent and combat it as resolutely as possible. The security of its 500 million inhabitants and the defence of the essential values and principles on which it is founded depend on this. Since the attacks of 11 September 2001, EU territory has itself been the target of terrorist attacks on a number of occasions, with dramatic consequences, as we are all aware: in Madrid in March 2004 and in London in July 2005. You will all have heard of the wave of attacks that took place only yesterday in Cantabria.
The increasingly sophisticated and diverse tools and methods used by terrorists make the task much more difficult. The development of information and communication technologies, particularly the Internet, makes it easier to organise terrorist networks and spread propaganda or even training manuals online. There are currently believed to be around 5 000 websites of this kind. Hence the European Commission’s entirely legitimate wish to adapt Community legislation to try to prevent not only actual terrorist attacks, but also the preparations for these attacks.
In order to do this, it has drawn direct inspiration from the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism. The problem is that it has chosen to take up only the repressive aspects, ignoring the provisions relating to the protection of fundamental freedoms, which constitute the essential counterweight, according to the Council of Europe. My concerns were mainly linked to the concept of ‘public provocation’ and the risk this poses to freedom of expression because, by criminalising this, things people say or write that are alleged to have led to an act of terrorism, or are simply likely to do so, will be punishable.
At the round table organised in April in collaboration with national parliaments, we noted that we were not alone in expressing reservations about certain aspects of the Commission’s text. Several national parliaments expressed doubts about the application of this framework decision and the scope of the concept of ‘public provocation’. The Council of Europe also highlighted the danger of leaving out safeguard clauses. Finally, within the framework of various studies, independent experts expressed their reservations, particularly about the definition of ‘public provocation’ and about the level of legal certainty of the text. Under the impetus of a handful of national delegations particularly concerned about the protection of fundamental rights, the Council itself added a number of safeguards to the text of the framework decision. On one or two specific points, however, it also proposed the tightening up of the framework decision and, in any case, work was still needed to reach an entirely satisfactory level of legal certainty and protection of freedoms.
With our fellow Members from the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, we have therefore tried to find a balance between these two apparently opposite but fundamentally inseparable objectives, namely the fight against terrorism and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms. In order to do this, we have had to perform a delicate balancing act, all the more so because it is sometimes difficult in practice to work out where freedom of expression ends and the violation of people’s rights begins. Think about the outrage caused two years ago by those Danish cartoons, or more recently by the controversy aroused by the short film on Islam by Dutch MP Geert Wilders.
Having said that, I believe that the compromise we have reached is a good one. The principal changes we have made are as follows: firstly, the replacement of the term ‘provocation’ with the term ‘incitement’, which is more precise and is used more frequently in legal language; secondly, a stricter definition of ‘public incitement’, which more clearly delineates the behaviour to be criminalised and therefore prevents any abuses that would lead to the restriction of freedom of expression; thirdly, the incorporation into the text of many provisions relating to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and, in particular, freedom of expression and freedom of the press; fourthly, a reminder of the need to guarantee that the measures taken are proportionate to the aims pursued, which is essential in a democratic, non-discriminatory society.
Those are the main points of this dossier. I am delighted that this subject was chosen as the priority for this morning’s plenary and I am looking forward to a rich and lively debate."@en1
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