PRESS RELEASE, The Hague, 07 April 2008
[europol] The second EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report, TE-SAT 2008,
produced by Europol was presented today in the European Parliament in
Brussels by Director Max-Peter Ratzel. Working in close cooperation with the member states and with
partners at the EU level, Europol is in the unique position of being
able to provide an overview of the situation regarding terrorism in the
European Union from a law enforcement perspective. The TE-SAT is
increasingly recognised as an important tool for decision makers on the
European level.
The TE-SAT report collates all statistical data on the terrorist
attacks and plots in the EU as well as providing details on the where,
the whom and the how of terrorist activities. For TE-SAT 2008, member
states have also reported on criminal acts committed by extremists.
This has allowed for a better description of the European scope despite
the disparities currently existing between member states with regard to
the crime areas which are defined as terrorism or extremism
respectively. Director Ratzel thanked the Member States as well as
Eurojust for contributing data for this report.
In 2007, EU member states reported a 24 percent increase in the
number of failed, foiled or successfully executed terrorist attacks and
a 48 percent increase in suspects arrested for terrorism offences
compared to 2006. The vast majority of the executed attacks caused
material damage, but two law enforcement officials were killed in an
attack related to separatist terrorism. Failed and foiled attacks
related to Islamist terrorism continue to aim at causing the most havoc
possible and indiscriminate mass casualties.
When presenting TE-SAT 2007, Ratzel said "Several member states
report that the threat from Islamist terrorism has increased or remains
high. The threat partly originates from an increasing level of command,
control and inspiration on attacks in the EU from Pakistani based
al-Qaeda linked groups and networks. In 2007, investigations showed
EU-nationals who had attended training in Pakistan and later been
involved in terrorist offences in the EU".
EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report TE-SAT 2008 [852kb, PDF]
