Fighting terrorism in Europe

In response to a heightened threat of Jihadist terrorism in Europe, following several serious terrorist incidents in recent months, an extraordinary meeting of high-ranking police representatives from the EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland, was held in Berlin on 7-8 February 2017.

Organised by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol, almost 100 participants gathered in Berlin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consider means by which to enhance the coordination of European police efforts to fight terrorism.

Key topics of discussion included the current state of the terrorist threat in Europe following the attack in Berlin in December 2016 and Paris recently, best practice methodologies for police response to terrorist incidents, and enhanced use of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) at Europol for the purpose of increasing information sharing and operational coordination between national counter terrorism agencies. The meeting concluded to reinforce national and European arrangements for cooperation via ECTC, including through the establishment of an operational steering board of leading Member States and Europol.

• Primary Source

Europol: Crime Areas and Trends: Crime Areas: Terrorism https://www.europol.europa.eu/crime-areas-and-trends/crime-areas/terrorism

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