As European Union leaders meet Thursday in Brussels to discuss the fight against terrorism in the wake of the January attacks in Paris in which 17 people were murdered, including four in a kosher supermarket, the European Parliament has urged a greater sharing of information among security forces to combat terrorism.
In a resolution adopted in Strasbourg, the European Parliament said it would try to complete work by year-end on a draft legislation that would force airlines to give national governments in Europe information on passengers.
Known as the EU Passenger Name Record (PNR), the information collected by airline companies when people check-in or reserve flights would be used to detect and prevent terrorist threats, including seat number, reservation date, payment method and travel itinerary..
The planned law stalled after the EU Parliament’s civil-liberties committee rejected the initiative in April 2013 because of concerns about data protection.
British MEP Timothy Kirkhope, from the European Conservatives and Reformist (ECR) group, the third largest in the EU parliament, who has been working on the PNR proposals, welcomed the majority support for the resolution and said PNR would "close the gaps in our intelligence armour".
But at their Brussels meeting, EU leasders are also expected to decide to step up ‘’ as a matter of urgency,’’ , the EU’s external action on countering terrorism in particular in the Mediterranean, the Middle east, including Yemen, and North Africa, in particular Libya.
The EU said in a statement, issued after the foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, that it strongly condemns the recent attacks, which have been carried out by terrorist groups and individuals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
"Counter-terrorism (CT) will be mainstreamed fully into EU foreign policy, " said a statement issued by the 28 EU Foreign Ministers after a meeting last Monday.
The EU also plans to implement tougher border checks to stop foreign terrorist fighters travelling to different locations to fight the jihad who are a security threat when theyu return to Europe. A draft of the statement for next Thursday's summit, obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, said
‘’The security of citizens is an immediate necessity. We must better implement the tools we have and develop them further,’’ EU leaders are expected to stress in their statement on Thursday.
Between 2009-2013, there were 1010 failed, foiled and completed attacks carried out in EU member states, according to figures from the EU counter-terrorism coordinator, Gilles de Kerckhove.
EU leaders will also vow ‘’to conduct targeted and upgraded security and counter-terrorism dialogues’’ with key countries including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and to strengthen political dialogue with regional coordination structures such as the League of Arab States, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union.
The leaders will also call for the monitoring and removal of Internet content that promotes terrorism and new projects to boost the counter-terrorism abilities of Middle East and North African countries.