Meeting of th Committee on Foreign Affairs jointly with the Committee on Development, and in association with the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly with Gilles de KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, in the EP in Brussels. Statements by Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Mich&egrave;le ALLIOT-MARIE (EPP, FR), Gilles PARGNEAUX (S&amp;D, FR) and Bas BELDER (ECR, NL),

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Brussels

meeting

fight against terrorism (T)

Committee on Development

ALLIOT-MARIE, Michèle (EPP, FR)

DE KERCHOVE, Gilles (BE)

BELDER, Bas (ECR, NL)

PARGNEAUX, Gilles (S&D, FR)

Exchange of views with Gilles de KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator: extracts from the meeting

Arrival of Gilles de KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator

SOUNDBITE (English), Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, The number of foreign fighters which is unprecedented, it has been reduced over the recent weeks and months thanks to the measures taken by the EU and the Member States. We have seen a significant decrease.

SOUNDBITE (English), Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, If we want to avoid this toxic link between migration and terrorism we have to be more effective at the border to identify who is entering. That requires that the countries in the front line, mainly Greece and Italy, have all the necessary equipment, all the necessary connection in terms of IT, and collect the fingerprints with the support of FRONTEX and Europol.

SOUNDBITE (English), Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, An issue we have not discussed yet in a new context which is very important for the police and the security services is the issue of encryption. You have seen the debate between the CEO of Apple and the director of the FBI. It is more and more a big challenge for security services or police to get access to WhatsApp conversations and Skype conversations and other sophisticated encryption devices.

SOUNDBITE (English), Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, The next wave of partnership will be of course with Morocco, Algeria and Egypt. We have started, we had meetings but we are not that advanced. One day Libya will of course be on top of the list as soon as the national unity government call on us to build capacity in the field of counterterrorism. We are pretty engaged in Western Balkans.

SOUNDBITE (English), Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, On the 8 June we will have dedicated counterterrorism dialogue with Turkey to explore many aspects, and one of them, an important one, as we have seen in the dramatic events in Belgium recently, how we can improve the channels of communication between Turkey and national law enforcement and agencies. When someone is sent back to Europe we have effective channels of communication.

SOUNDBITE (French), Mich&#232;le ALLIOT-MARIE (EPP, FR), Some of those countries were the first to create centres for deradicalisation, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Qatar. On our particular point, do you envisage exchanges with them because of their track record in deradicalisation as they could help with their records offer given their place in the region and the religion?

SOUNDBITE (French), Gilles PARGNEAUX (S&amp;D, FR), Do you want strengthen the prevention policy combating internet networks which are recruiting young people across Europe and the wider world, as in the Arab countries as well?

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Bas BELDER (ECR, NL), Recently, the Israeli intelligence has been talking about nuclear threats. In particular, about mass destruction and the use of chemical weapons because in Syria and Iraq we have seen it degenerating into a kind of chemical warfare.

SOUNDBITE (French), Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, This tsunami of information and the big challenge is how can you use that and prioritise it, putting into it analyse and hierarchy.

SOUNDBITE (French), Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Internet companies can help a great deal. First, platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Google, they can help training smaller platforms to enhance their capabilities and also work with civil society.

SOUNDBITE (English), Gilles DE KERCHOVE, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, On Nuclear terrorism, I will put the four letters, CBRN terrorism as a whole is not just nuclear but the chemical. One day maybe biotechnological can be added. That is the reason why in the lasts two years we have supported CBRN centres in many counties, in the MENA countries but also in other parts of the world. It is quite an expensive programme but we believe we have to help the countries to be better prepared for a possible threat of that nature.