On 2 November, a brutal terrorist attack in the heart of Vienna killed four people and injured many others, just days after the attack in the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Nice, where three people tragically lost their lives.

Given the clear European dimension of this terrorism, a strong common response is needed.

In particular, we need to strengthen the initiatives already taken, making them more effective – in relation to information exchange, investigative and judicial coordination and seizure of assets – in the fight against terrorism and organised crime. The latter criminal organisations – as recent police operations have shown – with their own trafficking, especially in drugs and weapons, also provide support and resources to terrorist groups.

In addition to the new counter-terrorism agenda expected to be published in the second half of 2021, will the Commission:

1. promote, as soon as possible, the extension of the competences of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to include terrorist offences and related financial crimes by providing it with the necessary resources and means;

2. strengthen the role of Europol in preventing and combating terrorism, as part of the revision of the agency’s mandate;

3. take steps to address the shortcomings in the implementation of Directive (EU) 2017/541, especially with regard to victim support?