The European Parliament,

–  having regard to international human rights instruments, notably the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), both of which have been signed by all the Member States and a large number of third States,

–  having regard to Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 13 of the EC Treaty,

–  having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and to the statute of the Fundamental Rights Agency,

–  having regard to the European Parliament legislative resolution of 29 November 2007 on the proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law,(1)

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on racism, xenophobia and extremism,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  seriously concerned at the Islamic fundamentalist recruitment and violent propaganda campaign, with terrorist attacks within the European Union, based on hatred of European values and anti-Semitism,

B.  concerned at the resurgence in Europe of extremist movements and parties which found their ideology and political discourse, practices and conduct on intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism,

C.  concerned at the violent activities and terrorist attacks of extremist left-wing movements based on the diffusion of hate and class war,

D.  whereas these ideologies are incompatible with democracy and human rights, as well as with the principles and values on which the EU is founded,

E.  whereas no Member State is immune to the intrinsic threats that extremism poses to democracy and whereas combating the spread of violent political and religious attitudes is therefore a European challenge,

F.  whereas some of the media, as well as a large number of internet homepages, are the main source of information about movements and groups which incite hatred, attacks against democratic institutions, terrorist acts and violence,

1.  Strongly condemns all hate attacks, urges the national authorities to do everything in their power to punish those responsible and to fight the climate of impunity with respect to the attacks, and expresses its solidarity with all victims of such attacks and their families;

2.  Points out that extremist movements that incite violence sometimes abuse the right of association from a political point of view. Takes the view that measures aimed at limiting the capacity for action of these movements should be envisaged in strict proportion to the danger of violence and with the clear purpose of guaranteeing equality and freedom for everyone;

3.  Asks the Member States to address the social and economic issues, such as unemployment, immigration and security, on which these movements capitalise, and to develop policies of education in democratic citizenship based on citizens’ rights and responsibilities;

4.  Calls on the Commission and Council to lead the search for appropriate political and legal responses, especially at the preventive stage, not forgetting the necessary responses in terms of young people’s education and public information, teaching against totalitarianism and spreading the principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in order to keep alive the memory of acts and events as they really happened in Europe and in the world;

5.  Urges the Commission to monitor the full application of the existing legislation intended to prohibit incitement to political and religious violence;

6.  Calls on the media to promote and to spread in their messages the principles and values of democracy, liberalism and tolerance;

7.  Emphasises the need to find a solution to the harmful use of the internet, and stresses that any monitoring of the internet with a view to preventing terrorist attacks should under no circumstances leave open the possibility for terrorists to use the internet to incite terrorist acts;

8.  Calls on the Commission to support NGOs and civil society organisations devoted to promoting democratic values, solidarity, social inclusion, intercultural dialogue and social awareness directed against radicalisation and violent extremism;

9.  Asks the Council and the Commission to strengthen the European programmes promoting social inclusion and education in democratic citizenship and addressing social and economic ills such as insecurity, unemployment and exclusion;

10.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Governments of the Member States and the Council of Europe.

(1) Texts adopted: P6_TA-PROV(2007)0552.