The EU Council's take on policing of terrorism in a civil society

Council conclusions on the role of the police and civil society
in combating violent radicalisation and recruitment
of terrorists
3051st JUSTICE and HOME AFFAIRS Council meeting
Brussels, 2 and 3 December 2010
The Council adopted the following conclusions:
"THE COUNCIL
RECALLING that terrorism is a threat for every State;
UNDERLINING the importance of combating the process of violent radicalisation and recruitment
of terrorists within the European Union and outside;
RECOGNISING that it is essentially the Member States that have to fight violent radicalisation and recruitment of terrorists, but that efforts at EU level can create an additional framework for exchanging good practice;
RECALLING that the EU in 2005 adopted a strategy1 and an action plan2 for combating
radicalisation and recruitment and, in 2009, a revised version of the EU action plan for combating radicalisation and recruitment of terrorists3;
CONSIDERING that the prevention of violent radicalisation can be strengthened by a better use of existing provisions in accordance with the EU strategy for combating radicalisation and
recruitment;

BASED ON the Stockholm Programme4 that calls upon Member States to develop prevention
mechanisms, in particular initiatives for social prevention and to allow the early detection of signs of violent radicalisation or terrorist threats, including threats from violent, militant extremist movements; and calls upon the Commission, the Council and Member States to improve initiatives to counter violent radicalisation in all vulnerable populations;
RECALLING the conclusions of the Council adopted in April 2010 concerning the use of a
voluntary instrument for collecting data and information on the processes of violent radicalisation in the EU5;
NOTING that the Commission's communication of July 2010 on the main achievements and future
challenges in the EU counter-terrorism policy6 underlines that it will be necessary to identify more accurately the most effective ways to combat violent radicalisation and recruitment of terrorists;
RECALLING the organisation of the conference of the European Expert Network on Terrorism
Issues (EENeT) convening respresentatives and officials from the academic and professional worlds on 21 and 22 September 2010;
RECALLING the seminar held on 22 and 23 September within the framework of the project on
Community Policing in Preventing Radicalisation (COPPRA) that underlined the importance of
community policing in the fight against violent radicalisation and aimed to better equip the police in the fight against violent radicalisation that might lead to terrorist offences.
WELCOMING the tools - a guide to recognise the first signs of violent radicalisation and a
handbook for trainers - deriving from operational needs and developed by the COPPRA project, to
support the front-line police of rapidly recognising the possible signs of violent radicalisation
processes.
RECALLING the conclusions of the conference concerning the role of civil society in the field of prevention of violent radicalisation (RAVIPO) on 15 October 2010;
UNDERLINING the importance and impact of the role of local authorities in the prevention of
violent radicalisation;

INVITES THE MEMBER STATES TO
- raise the awareness of national authorities that civil society and local communities should be seen as partners in developing a preventive approach to combating violent radicalisation;
- develop a multidisciplinary approach to combating the process of violent radicalisation,
involving partners from civil society, especially those whose professional involvement with
vulnerable individuals could have a multiplier effect;
- give the appropriate tools to front-line police, within the existing framework of the tasks of the police forces, provide training to them in the detection of violent radicalisation, bearing in mind the principle of proportionality and the right to personal freedom, and recommend them to use the results of the COPPRA project as well as the Handbook on best practices on countering radicalisation issued in 2008 for that purpose;
- make better use of existing knowledge of processes of violent radicalisation (for example by
creating knowledge and consultancy centres) in order to support civil-society partners and
police officers;
- exchange the good practices of civil-society partners that contribute directly or indirectly to the prevention of violent radicalisation, among these partners and among Member States' law
enforcement authorities.
INVITES THE COMMISSION TO
- facilitate the identification, collection and exchange of good practices at EU level concerning the role of law enforcement authorities, civil-society partners and local communities in the fight against violent radicalisation;
- further invest in research aimed at exploring the possible ways in which civil-society partners and local communities could contribute to the prevention of violent radicalisation and at exploring the modalities for cooperation between government bodies and civil society;
- support the Member States in setting up an informal network, consisting of police experts,
covering the role of the police in combating violent radicalisation.
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