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The European Commission plans to strengthen EU policing and law enforcement measures against threats from foreign powers such as Russia that collaborate with criminal networks, under a new strategy on internal security seen by the Financial Times.
In the document to be published on Tuesday, the commission proposes broadening the powers of law enforcement to fight so-called “hybrid” attacks by boosting the EU’s abilities to fight terrorism and organised crime, impose sanctions and gain access to banking information, according to a draft seen by the FT.
The move to strengthen and better integrate the EU’s various internal security organisations comes as the continent simultaneously moves to increase its defence capabilities to counter external threats and reduce its reliance on US support.
“Lines between hybrid threats and open warfare are blurred,” the document says, mentioning Russia’s “online and offline hybrid campaign against the EU and its partners”.
It says foreign states “use crime as a service and criminals as proxies”, as they “seek to infiltrate and disrupt our critical infrastructure and supply chains, to steal sensitive data and position themselves for maximum disruption in the future”.
Given these circumstances, “the Union’s capacity to anticipate, prevent and respond to security threats needs to be upgraded”, the commission’s draft proposal says.
The strategy proposes extending the EU sanctions regime, which at present targets terrorists as well as other foreign actors, to criminal networks, as well as establishing “a new EU-wide system to track organised crime profits and terrorist financing”, giving law enforcement greater access to the banking transactions of suspects.
Some of the measures, including those making anti-terrorism powers applicable to other domestic security issues, could be resisted by more liberal-minded governments, officials said.
“They want to build an EU police state,” said one senior EU diplomat briefed on the proposals.
The strategy, which must be followed up by concrete legal proposals to implement the plans, also calls for giving law enforcement vast access to online communications and data, and sharing more critical information with “trusted third countries”.
While the proposals could raise concerns from privacy campaigners, the commission argues the new measures are necessary because police have been lagging behind criminals who can evade scrutiny by using encrypted communication and other high-tech tools.
It wants to propose new measures to ensure “lawful access to data” for law enforcement, including a fresh attempt at an EU data retention regime, which was struck down by the European Court of Justice over serious privacy concerns in 2014.
In addition to giving law enforcement greater access to data, the commission wants to equip police with better technical tools and artificial intelligence. Europol, the EU’s police agency, will be transformed “into a truly operational law enforcement agency”, including by overhauling its mandate to cover new security threats such as sabotage, hybrid threats and disinformation, according to the draft.
To strengthen border security, the draft proposal reiterates that the commission intends to triple the staff of its border agency Frontex to 30,000 and equip it “with advanced technology for surveillance and situational awareness”.
The commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The draft could still change before publication.