“In a democratic society, all policies are subject to parliamentary scrutiny and evaluation. The regular standards of transparency and accountability should apply to counter terrorism like any other policy area. But so far remarkably little has been done to evaluate our counter terrorism efforts and their results. An in-depth evaluation is long overdue and will undoubtedly lead to more efficient and effective policies”. said Sophie in't Veld (D66, Netherlands), whose report was adopted today by the committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament, despite opposition from the  EPP group. The committee approved a request for the European Commission to conduct an in-depth and complete appraisal, and to report back to a joint meeting of the European Parliament and national parliamentary committees responsible for overseeing counter terrorism policies. The Treaty (Art 70 TFEU) foresees an evaluation of EU policies in the area of justice and home affairs.

“I welcome the strong emphasis LIBE puts on the need for counter terrorism policies to be conducted in full respect of the fundamental principles of the European Union: democracy, the rule of law, human rights and civil liberties” In‘t Veld added. The parliamentary committee calls amongst other things for retroactive assessment of the impact on civil liberties and fundamental rights of existing measures, as well as compulsory proportionality tests for future measures.  In addition, the report calls for more transparency, access to information and adequate parliamentary oversight of counter terrorism policies, including intelligence sharing.

MEPs call for allegations of unlawful actions or human rights violations to be investigated, and reiterate in particular Parliament’s call for clarification of the role of the EU and Member States in the CIA programme of renditions and black sites.

The report also calls for a detailed evaluation of the costs of counter terrorism, both on public authorities and the private sector. In‘t Veld: “Knowing the costs of a given measure is essential for making policy choices in a transparent and accountable manner. It is fairly absurd we have been passing so much legislation, without the slightest idea of the cost, and simply passing on the financial burden to national budgets and companies”.