102 / 145
THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
102
forces throughout Europe are being given the
additional human and material resources re-
quired to do this job. The numerous instances in
which attacks have been prevented or avoided
in countries such as Germany, Spain and Great
Britain attest to the efficacy of this approach.
On the other hand, the enhanced level of
cooperation and information sharing between
the intelligence services and security forces of
Member States on terrorist movements and ac-
tivities that European institutions have repeat-
edly called for is still far from being a reality due
to the occasional reluctance of these services to
act with complete transparency. Although the
recently reinforced EUROPOL and newly created
European Counter Terrorism Centre will help to
fill the current gap, it would also make sense to
go a step further and consider developing an EU
intelligence service. It is also essential to ex-
change information with Arab and Muslim
countries with which we maintain fluid rela-
tions, even if only on a bilateral basis, sharing
afterwards the information received with other
Member States, as well as with other non-EU
countries whose cooperation may be desirable
such as the United States.
Measures approved by the European Council
in February 2015 to address the deeper causes
of radicalisation such as the social, cultural and
economic marginalisation of a significant per-
centage of Muslim young people living in Euro-
pean countries –which have yet to be acted
upon– must be developed and implemented as
soon as possible as the success of such initia-
tives will be the best long-term antidote for the
threat of terrorism in Europe. Greater efforts
must be made to further integration and im-
prove living conditions in Muslim communities.
Educational campaigns that counter radical
propaganda with democratic values have to be
implemented in schools and social networks,
and moderate Muslim religious and political
leaders should be politically and financially sup-
ported.
Finally, it is essential to avoid and neutralise
outbreaks of Islamophobia sparked by terrorist
attacks and mass migration flows, both of
which are being capitalised upon by political
parties and extremist movements such as Pegi-
da in Germany, the National Front in France, the
Party for Freedom in the Netherlands and other
extreme-right or proto-fascist European parties
that have emerged or thriven as a result of the
economic and social crisis in which Europe re-
mains immersed. Left unchecked, such fear and
hate campaigns could cause social fractures
within the EU, which it must be remembered is
home to more than 20 million Muslims.
The fight against jihadism beyond our
borders
Although essential, internal security measures
are not sufficient to prevent terrorism. It is nec-
essary to combat jihadism where it emerges and
develops. Whether carried out under the direct
orders of jihadist factions elsewhere or simply
inspired by these groups, attacks perpetrated on
EU territory have been a reflection of what is
happening in Arab and Muslim countries hit by
this plague. Should the EU passively allow radi-
calisation to thrive in its neighbourhood, the
pressure within its borders will continue to build
and the security of European citizens will be se-
riously threatened.
Jihadism is spreading throughout a vast
swathe of the Muslim world that stretches from
Western Africa (Nigeria) and the Sahel (Mali, Ni-
ger) to Central Asia (Afghanistan) and even the
Far East (Indonesia, The Philippines) and in-
cludes various points in between in North Africa