EU Moves Towards Reinforcing Fight Against Terrorism

rench Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, Luxembourg`s Vice Prime Minister Etienne Schneider and Luxembourg`s Justice Minister Felix Braz give a press conference at the end of an extraordinary Justice and Home

At their extraordinary meeting in Brussels on Friday, the justice and home affairs ministers of the EU member states adopted a set of conclusions to reinforce the fight against terrorism.

The extraordinary meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council was summoned by the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU in coordination with French authorities.

The meeting was convened in the aftermath of the attacks in Paris last week, which claimed the lives of 130 people and left hundreds injured.

The justice and home affairs ministers of the EU member states met to ensure the follow-up of existing measures and discussed how to strengthen the response of the Union.

The conclusions focused on the following areas of action: finalising the EU Passenger Name Record (PNR) directive before the end of the year; fighting against the trafficking of firearms; reinforcing controls at the external borders of the EU; targeting terrorist financing; improving information sharing and judicial cooperation.

The JHA council also adopted conclusions on improving the criminal justice response to radicalisation leading to terrorism and violent extremism.

The ministers highlighted the importance of accelerating the implementation of all areas covered by the statement on counter-terrorism issued by the members of the European Council of 12 February 2015.

Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg and Minister of Internal Security, noted that the JHA council recalled the urgency and importance of the European PNR directive.

Schneider reassured that the Presidency maintains its aim to finalise the dossier before the end of the year, aiming to negotiate an effective and operational directive which should include internal flights and a reasonable data retention period and which should not be limited to crimes of a transnational nature.

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