News
Homophobia: "Perhaps you just nod and try to change the subject?"
16/05/2012
"There is a lack of courage, a lack of commitment and a failure to take our values seriously. This holds true for politicians, governments, companies, but also for ordinary citizens. Far too many of us decide not to stand up for our beliefs but to look the other way," Malmström said.
At the ILGA event, a report on the human rights situation for LGBTI people was released. It demonstrates big differences and gaps between countries when it comes to LGBTI rights in Europe. The international day is an opportunity to put focus on these issues, and on how homophobia and transphobia occur in our daily lives.
"We must all make sure that no matter where negative words are uttered and no matter by whom – whether it be a cherished family member, a great colleague or a good friend – that these negative words do not go unquestioned", Malmström said.
"Perhaps you just nod and try to change the subject? But this is exactly when we must interfere and ask the uncomfortable questions: what does your good friend really mean?", she added.
The international day against homophobia and transphobia occcurs on May 17th. A video was also released this week as part of the "It gets better" project, where representatives of EU institutions vow to work to put an end to homophobia and transphobia. Watch it here.
More: Read Cecilia Malmström's full speech at ILGA and watch a video from the event. The report on LGBTI rights in Europe can be found on ILGA's website.
Commission carries out first Schengen 'health check'
16/05/2012
"Schengen is one of the most valued achievements of European integration. It is widely cherished by EU's citizens and makes a major contribution to our economic prosperity. Everyone needs to do their part to preserve Schengen. This starts with a regular, healthy debate in the European Parliament and the Council for which today's report provides a good basis", said Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs.
Read more: The press release and the full report
Cybercrime: "EU-US cooperation a necessity"
03/05/2012
"EU-U.S. cooperation is not a choice, but a necessity", Malmström said.
"Alongside its cooperation with the US, the EU will have to do its homework to make cyberspace safer," Malmström said, raising the recently announced EU Cybercrime Centre (EC3) as an example of how the EU is intensifying its efforts.
Specific tasks of the cybercrime centre will be to fight organised criminal groups committing widespread online fraud, and fighting online sexual exploitation of children.
"During the past decade we have seen an unprecedented expansion in the market for child abuse images. Although we have successfully disrupted numerous child abuse networks online, we must do more to protect our children from harm," Malmström said.
As a result of cooperation between the FBI, Europol and several EU Member States, an international network of child sex offenders was dismantled earlier this year. Several arrests were made on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, 8 children between 3 and 10 years old were rescued.
The conference on 2 May was organised by the Center for Strategic & International Studies and the European Security Round Table. Other speakers included Jane Holl Lute, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Hans-Peter Friedrich, Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany.
"Let's hope that a few new good ideas will be born today. We will need them if we are to win the battle against those who attempt to disrupt our digital lives," Malmström said.
Read Cecilia Malmström's full speech here, and watch a video from the conference at csis.org
Visiting liberated lands
24/04/2012
Blogging from the visit to Italy, Malmström wrote:
"The involvement from civil society in this area is enormous. It's a daily struggle to show that the anti-mafia is more powerful than the mafia itself."
Read the full blog entry. Photos from the visit can be found at Europe by Satellite, and more information about the proposal to confiscate criminal assets is available here.
Parliament gives green light to agreement on passenger data
19/04/2012
The European Parliament has approved a new agreement on the transfer of air passengers' data for flights from the EU to the US. The Passenger Name Record (PNR) agreement was adopted with 409 votes in favour, 226 against and 33 abstentions. The agreement contains stronger rules on police and law enforcement cooperation, as well as rules on how long PNR data may be stored, along with detailed descriptions of the purposes for which the data may be used. In a comment, Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said:
"I welcome today's vote of the European Parliament giving its consent to the new Passenger Name Record Agreement with the United States of America. This is an agreement the three EU institutions can be proud of: it provides stronger protection of EU citizens' right to privacy and more legal certainty for air carriers than the existing EU-U.S. PNR Agreement from 2007."
She added: "At the same time, it fully meets the security needs of the United States of America and the EU. Under the new agreement, data of passengers travelling to the United States of America will be used to fight serious transnational crime and terrorism. It will be made anonymous six months after a passengers' flight. EU citizens will be informed about the use of their data, and will be able to access and request the correction or deletion of their PNR data. The new agreement is a substantial improvement on the existing Agreement from 2007, and I am pleased that the European Parliament has recognised this today."
PNR data is information provided by passengers, and collected by air carriers for their own commercial purposes.
Read more about the EU-U.S. PNR agreement here. Cecilia Malmström's statement can be found here, as well as more questions and answers about the agreement. The European Parliament has more information on today's vote.
EU Cybercrime Centre to fight online fraud
04/04/2012
It is estimated that worldwide, more than one million people become victims of cybercrime every day. This week, the European Commission is presenting a European Cybercrime Centre to help protect European citizens and businesses against these mounting cyber-threats. The centre will be established within Europol, the European police agency in The Hague.
"We can't let cybercriminals disrupt our digital lives. A European Cybercrime Centre within Europol will become a hub for cooperation in defending an internet that is free, open and safe," said Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs.
The centre will be the European focal point in fighting cybercrime and will focus on illegal online activities carried out by organised crime groups, particularly those generating large criminal profits, such as online fraud involving credit cards and bank credentials. The EU experts will also work on preventing cybercrimes affecting e-banking and online booking activities, thus increasing e-consumers trust. A focus of the European Cybercrime Centre will be to protect social network profiles from e-crime infiltration and will help the fight against online identity theft. It will also focus on cybercrimes which cause serious harm to their victims, such as online child sexual exploitation and cyber-attacks affecting critical infrastructure and information systems in the Union.
Watch Wednesday's press conference in full, and read the press release as well as more questions and answers about the centre.
Crime must not pay: Going after criminal assets
12/03/2012
"We need to hit criminals where it hurts, by going after the money, and we have to get their profits back in to the legal economy, especially in these times of crisis. Law enforcement and judicial authorities must have better tools to follow the money trail. They also need greater means with which to recover a more significant proportion of criminal assets," said Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs.
At present, the amounts recovered from organised crime are modest if compared to the huge revenues generated by illegal activities such as drug trafficking, counterfeiting, human trafficking and small arms smuggling. These profits make criminal groups stronger and robs European citizens of tax money which could be invested in health care or schools.
According to UN estimates, the total amount of criminal proceeds generated in 2009 may have been approximately $2.1 trillion, or 3.6 per cent of global GDP in that year. While most of this dirty money is laundered and reinvested into the legal economy, currently less than 1% of the proceeds of crime are frozen and confiscated.
More: Read the full press release and questions and answers about the proposal, and watch a video of coonfiscated assets around Europe. Extracts from the press conference here.
Tougher rules to combat arms trafficking
08/03/2012
Welcoming today's adoption in the Council, Commissioner Malmström said: "Trafficking in firearms is a threat to the security of our citizens and is a lucrative business for organised crime. I am therefore particularly glad that the European Parliament and Council has approved the Commission's proposal to tighten the rules for exports and imports of firearms and to improve traceability. Stronger control of firearms entering or leaving the EU will help us prevent their misuse."
To avoid unnecessary administrative burdens, the Regulation sets up simplified procedures for temporary export, import and transit of small numbers of firearms for ‘verifiable lawful purposes’, such as recreation, repair or exhibitions.
The new legislation improves the tracing and control of imports and exports of civilian firearms from and to the EU territory (firearms intended for military purposes are governed by other rules). It brings EU legislation in line with Article 10 of the UN Firearms Protocol, allowing its ratification by the European Union which has been pending for almost a decade.
Arms trafficking often involves other serious crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and corruption.