Protecting Europe from terrorism risks

This communication sets out European Commission ideas to help the EU prevent terrorist attacks using chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials and explosives (CBRN-E).

ACT

Communication of the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a new EU approach to the detection and mitigation of CBRN-E risks. (COM(2014) 247 final of 5 May 2014 - not published in the Official Journal).

SUMMARY

Through its communication, the European Commission is proposing to boost the EU’s efforts to:

• detect explosives and dangerous materials;
• step up research across Europe; and
• build awareness in EU countries.

Terrorist attacks such as those in Madrid, London and Moscow and at the Boston Marathon illustrate the high level of innovation of attackers and the relative ease with which some CBRN-E materials and components can be obtained.

This new approach will be put into practice step by step and will take into account different types of threat and environment. Its aims will include:

• improving the detection of risks;
• improving the usage of the results of research, testing and validation;
• promoting awareness raising, training sessions and exercises (including a handbook for the protection of civilians at airports to be published in 2014).

Throughout the process, the Commission recommends involving all the relevant parties, such as academia, the private sector or civil protection authorities, in the work.

More effective detection

A key aim of the communication is to achieve more effective detection. This includes improving the way in which insider threats are addressed (e.g. through improved procedures for vetting personnel involved in the whole supply chain of explosives and CBRN-E materials) and testing CBRN-E detection equipment through practical trials.

Trials

For example, mobile CBRN-E detection units were deployed and tested during an EU-Africa Summit and a United States presidential visit to Brussels in 2014. This included using non-intrusive detection methods to detect explosives and chemical, radiological and nuclear threats at several Brussels train and metro stations. The detection equipment, in the form of light-weight portable electrical devices, delivers results within seconds.

These trials provided valuable information on how to carry out threat-detection missions in different environments, such as critical infrastructure and transportation hubs. The Commission intends to launch more practical trials of detection equipment in other areas of public security in 2014-15.

Last updated: 28.07.2014