Changes from resolution motion to adopted text

22. Welcomes the adoption of the 2020-2025 EU action plan on firearms trafficking, including proper indicators and reporting provisions and encompassing South-East European partners (Western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine), while stepping up cooperation with countries in the Middle East and North Africa; welcomes the Commission’s intention to introduce systematic and harmonised data collection on firearms seizures;

23. Calls for swift implementation of the preparatory action proposed by Parliament on efficient monitoring of the darknet at EU level, and calls on the Member States and Commission to look into further actions to prevent the trafficking of firearms in the darknet;

24. Welcomes the Commission proposal to confirm the Union and Member States’ commitment to protecting citizens’ health and security from drug-related threats through the adoption of a new EU Agenda on Drugs for the next five years; takes the view that Union drug policy should continue to pursue an integrated, balanced, multidisciplinary, evidence- and human rights-based approach, and be closely coordinated with the Union’s external action; insists that Union action on illicit drugs should devote comparable attention and resources to both the supply and demand side of the phenomenon, and calls for an increased focus on rehabilitation and prevention in the EU action plan, including by means of awareness-raising campaigns dedicated especially to children and young people;

25. Supports the participation of civil society and other relevant stakeholders in the ongoing discussions on the Commission communication on the EU Agenda and Action Plan on Drugs 2021-2025; takes the view that the Union and national responses to drugs-related challenges should be designed with the widest possible involvement of those concerned, including drug users; calls for the extension of the mandate of the EMCDDA to cover multiple addictions;

27. Takes note of the possible modernisation of the legislative framework of the Prüm decisions; acknowledges the shortcomings and potential improvements identified by various experts, and attributed, inter alia, to insufficient data quality; recalls the importance of publicly available and accurate data regarding the use of Prüm, and calls on the Commission to gather this data from all participating Member States in order to properly evaluate the current Prüm framework and to allow for meaningful democratic scrutiny; demands that any new proposal contains the obligation for Member States to provide this data to the Commission, which must be used for regular and publicly available review reports; demands, further, that the proposal is accompanied by a thorough impact assessment, covering fundamental rights implications, which should demonstrate whether there would be added value in automatic data exchange, as well as whether any additional categories of biometric data are needed; stresses that any new solution has to respect the principles of necessity and proportionality, as well as the EU acquis on data protection, and provide for robust safeguards to protect fundamental rights;

28. Highlights that the Advanced Passenger Information (API) Directive has contributed to more efficient border controls and the identification of persons posing security threats; notes the Commission’s intention to propose a new version of the API Directive to be compliant with Treaty of Lisbon provisions and the data protection acquis; expects this revision to be accompanied by a thorough impact assessment, including fundamental rights implications;

29. Recalls that important EU legislative initiatives have been finalised in recent years in order to detect criminals at its external borders and to improve the efficiency of police cooperation with the aim of contributing to a high level of security within the area of freedom, security and justice of the Union; recalls, further, that these initiatives include a new architecture for EU information systems and their interoperability, and that attention should now be focused on their timely implementation, with full respect for fundamental rights;

30. Stresses that sufficient capacity for information processing by law enforcement is a vital part of the entire chain of security efforts in the Union as a whole; points out that insufficient capacity in one or more Member States seriously weakens the effectiveness of EU security policies; calls on the Commission to do everything in its competence to ensure adequate capacity for processing information in the Member States;

31. Acknowledges Eurojust’s work in supporting and coordinating the work of national judicial authorities in investigating and prosecuting transnational crime; calls for increased efforts to promote mutual trust among judicial authorities, including through the effective implementation of the Procedural Roadmap Directives, and to facilitate and accelerate the exchange of information and communication in the judicial sector in the European Union; stresses that judicial cooperation in criminal matters is lagging behind in digitalisation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide judicial authorities with financial support to secure adequate analytical standards and appropriate digital tools, to facilitate and accelerate their cooperation, and allow for secure exchange of information; welcomes the Commission communication of 2 December 2020 on the digitalisation of justice in the EU, and the proposal for a regulation on a computerised system for communication in cross-border civil and criminal proceedings (e-CODEX system);

32. Points out that judicial cooperation between Member States and the mutual recognition of judicial decisions and judgments should be improved, including by means of a timely and correct implementation of judicial cooperation instruments in criminal matters; points out that certain developments in the rule of law situation in several Member States have impacted this exchange of information and police and judicial cooperation in general; stresses, in this regard, that mutual trust relies on a common understanding of the EU values enshrined in Article 2 of the TEU, including the rule of law, which independent judiciaries and the fight against corruption are essential components of;

33. Reiterates its call for further action to improve the training of law enforcement on strategies to fight against racism and discrimination, and to prevent, identify and ban racial and ethnic profiling and violence; calls on the Member States to invest in this field, and cooperate with CEPOL and the European Judicial Training Network; underlines that there is a continued need for training on trends in radicalisation, terrorism and money laundering;

34. Welcomes the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO); calls for its independence to be preserved, and for its effective functioning in national judicial procedures to be ensured; is concerned that the Commission has committed a significant omission by not taking into account the EPPO’s role in enhancing our Security Union: calls for the assessment of a potential extension of the EPPO’s mandate in line with Article 83 of the TFEU, once the EPPO is fully operational;

35. Calls on the Member States to ensure the full and correct implementation of the Victims’ Rights Directive and other EU rules on victims’ rights; welcomes the adoption of the Victim’s Rights Strategy and the creation of the post of Commission Coordinator for Victims’ Rights; reiterates its call for special attention to be paid to vulnerable victims, and for the possibility of compensation to be paid out of seized and confiscated assets and the proceeds of crimes; reiterates its call for sustainable funding for victim support services to be ensured;

36. Reiterates the need for effective protection and assistance to vulnerable victims of trafficking, including their reintegration into society, with particular attention for unaccompanied minors; highlights the need for law enforcement personnel to be trained in the psychological aspects of trafficking, and for a gender- and child-friendly approach that implements anti-discrimination legislation;

37. Stresses that gender equality is a crucial aspect for combating radicalisation, reducing domestic violence, and for preventing sexual abuse and child abuse; calls on the Commission to include measures to support gender equality as an important prevention component of its security strategy, and calls on the Council to activate the passerelle clause by adopting a unanimous decision to identify violence against women and girls (and other forms of gender-based violence) as one of the areas of crime defined in Article 83(1) of the TFEU; calls on the Commission and Member States to prioritise the fight against domestic violence by providing support services, establishing specialised law enforcement units and prosecuting these crimes; calls on the Commission and Member States to provide updated data on this; calls for the EU and the Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention;

38. Regrets the systematic lack of full and timely implementation of EU security measures by the Member States; considers that security measures must not only be implemented to the letter of the law, but also to the spirit; notes that if security measures are systematically not being implemented fully and on time, they risk being void, may not result in more security, and therefore no longer fulfil the requirements of necessity and proportionality; calls on the Commission to start infringement procedures immediately after transposition deadlines or after a breach has been identified;

39. Stresses the importance of evidence of the effectiveness of current EU security measures; points out that the extent to which the restriction of fundamental rights can be considered necessary and proportionate depends on the effectiveness of these policies, proven by publicly available quantitative and qualitative evidence; regrets the fact that the Commission has so far only made available anecdotal evidence about security measures, but no quantitative evidence;

40. Calls on the Commission to regularly evaluate current security policies and agreements, and bring them into line with CJEU case law where necessary; takes the view that the passenger name record (PNR) agreements with the USA and Australia must be urgently amended to be compliant with CJEU case law, and considers the Commission’s refusal to act accordingly a grave omission;

41. Is concerned about the outsourcing of some activities from law enforcement agencies to the private sector, and calls for better oversight over any private-public cooperation in the field of security; regrets the lack of transparency on EU funding for private companies establishing security systems or parts thereof;

42. Is deeply concerned by the lack of resources allocated to some EU agencies acting in the field of justice and home affairs (JHA) to comply fully with their mandate; calls for proper funding and staffing of EU agencies and bodies in the field of JHA in order for the EU to deliver on the Security Union Strategy;

43. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.