Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Whereas:

Article 2 of the Treaty establishing the European Union requires that the Union shall maintain and develop the Union as an area of freedom, security and justice.

The Union shall provide citizens with a high level of safety within the area of freedom, security and justice. That objective shall be achieved by combating terrorism, including the external dimension of the threat, and by addressing the factors contributing to violent radicalisation.

The Commission, in its Communication on Prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist attacks ^f1 declared that opposing violent radicalisation within our societies and disrupting the conditions facilitating the recruitment of terrorists must be fundamental priorities in a strategy to prevent terrorism.

The Commission, in its Communication Terrorist recruitment: addressing the factors contributing to violent radicalisation ^f2, recognised the need to call upon the expertise of specialists in developing further its policy in the field.

The group shall be made up of specialists from various disciplines with experience in analysing and researching the field of violent radicalisation or fields directly related to it.

The ‘Expert Group on Violent Radicalisation’ therefore has to be set up and its terms of reference and structures detailed,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: