By endorsing the report by Sophie in 't Veld (D66, Netherlands) today on EU Counter Terrorism policy, the European Parliament calls on the Commission to draw up a complete and detailed map of all existing counter terrorism policies in Europe and to carry out a comprehensive evaluation of  the effectiveness of all the measures that have been put in place in the past decade.

"An evaluation of our policies is always necessary to make them more effective. The raft of counter terrorism measures should not be exempted from this exercise", said In 't Veld, welcoming that the EP confirmed her call for an assessment.

Policies that are about our safety, but also about our civil rights and the rule of law, should not be subject to less scrutiny, but to more scrutiny. That is why we need an evaluation, including an overview of all resources spent by the European Union, the EU Member States and private companies. We need to verify if all measures have been subject to full parliamentary scrutiny. The European Commission must look where counter terrorism powers have been expanded into other areas, like regular crime, immigration or public health."

In 't Veld regrets  the fierce opposition from the Christian Democrats: "Apparently for some, the mere fact of asking questions is perceived as being critical and against all counter terrorism policies.  Scrutiny does not undermine security, quite the opposite."

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