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Enhancing the security of explosives |
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Most commonly, terrorists have used explosives to inflict casualties and damage. Home-made explosives, fabricated from certain easily accessible chemical precursors, are a preferred tool for perpetrators of terrorist attacks. The Europol TE-SAT reports indicate that these continue to pose a serious threat to the EU. Therefore, the Commission's efforts concentrate on ensuring greater security of explosives, bomb-making equipment and technologies that contribute to the perpetration of terrorist acts. EU Action Plan on the security of explosives While the usefulness of explosives for industrial purposes is beyond doubt, policy-makers must reduce the possibility of their misuse for terrorist purposes to ensure the security of citizens. This can only be achieved through the active contribution of all stakeholders at EU, national and industry level. This rationale formed the basis of the 2008 EU Action Plan on Enhancing the Security of Explosives. The Action Plan contains measures related to prevention, detection and response, as well as horizontal measures, such as the development of information sharing mechanisms and platforms, supporting research and working with partners both in and outside the EU. A review of the EU Action Plan is scheduled for 2012. The Stockholm Programme emphasised the need to implement the Action Plan and to provide better information on the security of explosives. In addition, it called for the development of a legislative framework to address the dangers associated with the use of chemical precursors in explosives. The 2010 Commission proposal on the marketing and use of explosive precursors responds to this call. Reducing risks Work on reducing the risk of misuse of certain chemicals to fabricate home-made explosives is carried out within the Standing Committee on Precursors (SCP). The SCP has already contributed to the amendment of the Limitations Directive (now incorporated into the REACH legislation) that reduced access to highly concentrated ammonium nitrate fertilisers, which have been misused to produce home-made explosives. In addition, the SCP assists the Commission in its work to further reduce the risks related to the misuse of precursors. The Action Plan promotes other preventive measures, such as the tightening of security along the entire supply chain of commercial explosives in the EU, including in production, transport, storage, commercialisation and final use. An expert working group consisting of representatives from national security institutions and EU bodies has been set up to deal with the specific issue of detecting explosives and their precursor chemicals. It develops relevant detection scenarios to identify possible technology gaps. In this work the Commission is also supported by the Network on Detection of Explosives (NDE), an important information hub on the detection of explosives, which provides expertise and advice on the technical aspects of detection policy. |
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