Geoffrey Van Orden, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, as Vice—Chair of the Special Committee on Terrorism, I welcome this report and congratulate the Chair of the Committee and the co-rapporteurs for their diligence, for avoiding many pitfalls, and for coming forward with – for the most part – realistic proposals.

We haven’t had a multi-casualty terrorist attack in Europe since, I think, 23 March 2018 in Carcassonne. The public mind is naturally on other matters. But I am under no illusions: those that wish us harm and seek to disrupt our societies are at this moment actively plotting and preparing attacks. I congratulate the police and security services in all our countries for their professionalism and vigilance.

The United Kingdom has among the most professional and capable intelligence and security services in the world and makes an enormous contribution to the security of Europe as a whole. As Helga Stevens has mentioned, this report endorses the need for a close future security partnership between the EU and the UK. While there is a certain ideological boneheadedness in Brussels in other areas concerning Brexit, it’s nevertheless widely recognised by the professionals and, I believe, at the political level that there must be continuity in the security relationship between the EU and the UK. This includes UK contribution to, and access to, information and data networks. We also need close cooperation in many other areas, for example in dealing with those returning to our countries from the ISIS terror organisation, and none of us has yet found an acceptable solution to the problem of convicted extremists, both during their term of imprisonment and – most importantly – once they have served their sentences.

To conclude, this report should be seen as a realistic contribution to a discussion that needs to continue and intensify.