• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Questions and answers on ProtectEU - a new European Internal Security Strategy

European Commission

Questions and answers
Apr 01, 2025
Strasbourg

Why is a European Internal Security Strategy needed?

Faced with new and evolving security threats and an evolving geopolitical landscape, EU Member States' ability to guarantee security for their citizens needs a unified, European approach to protecting our internal security.

The European Internal Security Strategy aims to facilitate coordinated action, deepening cooperation through information sharing and enhancing our resilience and collective ability to prevent, detect and respond effectively to security threats. It will ensure that security considerations are integrated in the development and implementation of Union policies across Member States, promoting a cohesive and comprehensive whole-of-society approach to security. It will support Member States to harness the power of technology to strengthen security, while promoting a secure digital space for all. It supports a common response by Member States to global political and economic shifts affecting the Union's internal security.

How does it relate to the White Paper for European Defence and the Preparedness Union Strategy?

Building on the Recommendations of the Report by former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, the European Internal Security Strategy is closely linked to the Preparedness Union Strategy and the White Paper on European Defence - Readiness 2030, which together set out a vision for safe, secure and resilient EU.

The European Internal Security Strategy provides a comprehensive response to man-made threats to the EU's internal security such as hybrid threats, organised crime, and terrorism. The Preparedness Strategy presented on 26 March focused on strengthening civilian and military crisis readiness, while the White Paper on European Defence presented on 18 March sets out a strategic vision for European defence cooperation, investments, and industrial capabilities. The Commission will also propose a European Democracy Shield to promote and strengthen democratic resilience in the EU.

How will the Commission mainstream security considerations across EU policies?

In complementarity with the Preparedness Union Strategy, preparedness and security considerations will be integrated and mainstreamed across EU legislation, policies and programmes from the start and throughout the negotiation process.

When preparing new legislation or reviewing existing legislation in relevant areas, the Commission will consistently identify potential impacts of the preferred policy option on preparedness and security. This will be supported with regular training for policy makers in the Commission.

As part of the new European internal security governance, regular threat analyses related to internal security will be prepared and support the work of the Security College as well as the exchanges with Member States in the Council.

How will Europol be strengthened?

Europol plays a crucial role in supporting Members States' law enforcement authorities in the fight against serious and organised crime, including on the fight against migrant smuggling, and terrorism. The current security context requires Europol to be strengthened and equipped to reinforce its operational support to Member States.

In close consultation with Member States, the Commission will propose an ambitious overhaul of Europol's mandate.

Concretely, this means strengthening Europol's role in investigating cross-border, large-scale, and complex cases posing a serious threat to the internal security of the Union; and working more closely with other EU Agencies, notably Eurojust and the EPPO, to strengthen law enforcement and judicial cooperation.

Europol's enhanced support should also aim at strengthening Member States' capacities to conduct effective investigations through digital forensics, decryption, processing growing amounts of data, the operational use of emerging and innovative technologies, tackling illegal profits, an increased role in the digital environment, and more.

What is the Commission proposing on data retention and encryption?

The Commission will present a roadmap setting out the legal and practical measures it proposes to take to ensure lawful and effective access to data. In the follow-up to this Roadmap, the Commission will prioritise an assessment of the impact of data retention rules at EU level and the preparation of a Technology Roadmap on encryption, to identify and assess technological solutions that would enable law enforcement authorities to access encrypted data in a lawful manner, safeguarding cybersecurity and fundamental rights.

How will the Commission balance the need for security with the need to protect individuals' right to privacy?

Law enforcement and the judicial authorities need to be able to investigate and take action against crime. According to Europol's SOCTA report, today, nearly all forms of serious and organised crime have a digital footprint. Around 85% of criminal investigations now rely on law enforcement authorities' ability to access digital information.

As digitalisation becomes more pervasive and provides an ever-growing source of new tools for criminals, a framework for access to data which responds to the needs to enforce our laws and protect our values is essential. At the same time, ensuring digital systems remain secure from unauthorised access is equally vital to preserve cybersecurity, protect against emerging security threats and ensure that fundamental rights including the right to privacy are respected.

The Commission will ensure that security considerations are integrated into EU policies while respecting fundamental rights, including the right to privacy.

How does the Strategy improve citizens' security online, in particular children?

The Strategy puts forward a number of measures to protect citizens online. The Digital Services Act requires online platforms to take proactive measures to manage risks and remove illegal content. This protects online users, especially children, from the threats of child sexual abuse, human trafficking, and online radicalisation. The Strategy calls for a rigorous enforcement of the DSA.

The Commission will also publish comprehensive guidelines to protect minors and introduce a privacy-protective age verification solution in 2025, which will provide an essential safeguard until the EU Digital Identity Wallet becomes available in 2026.

The Commission will equally keep fostering collaboration between online platforms, stakeholders, and relevant authorities to ensure online safety through the Code of Conduct on Illegal Hate Speech and the EU Internet Forum.

To combat child sexual abuse, the Commission will support the co-legislators in finalising the two legislative proposals to prevent and combat child sexual abuse online and to make law enforcement action against child sexual abuse and exploitation effective. Once the new rules are adopted, the EU Centre to prevent and combat child sexual abuse will be set up to support online service providers to prevent and if needed, detect child sexual abuse online, review reports and channel them to law enforcement. The Centre will also support Member States to prevent child sexual abuse and assist victims.

The Commission will develop an Action Plan on the Protection of Children against Crime, which will entail a strong online dimension in protecting children from abuse and recruitment by criminals. The Commission will also adopt an Action Plan against Cyberbullying.

To counter the dissemination of terrorist material online, the Commission is evaluating the Terrorist Content Online Regulation and will assess how best to strengthen this framework. To strengthen our ability to combat online fraud, the Commission will present an Action Plan on Online Fraud which will cover prevention measures, more effective law enforcement action, support and protection of victims, including by assistance in recovering their funds.

How does the strategy propose to counter terrorism?

The Strategy announces a new EU Agenda on preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism to set out future EU action to anticipate threats, to prevent radicalisation, to protect citizens and public spaces from attacks, and to effectively respond to attacks when they occur.

Concretely, the Commission will:

• Develop a comprehensive prevention toolbox to tackle root causes of radicalisation, to allow for early identification and interventions focused on vulnerable individuals, including minors;
• Enhance its capabilities to protect public spaces, through reviewing the rules on explosives precursors, strengthening the European Protective Security Advisory programme and expanding available EU funding for the protection of public spaces;
• Address the challenges posed by terrorist financing, including continued support to counter-terrorism financial investigators and exploring the creation of a new EU-wide system to track terrorist financing.

How does the Strategy propose to tackle organised crime?

The Commission is developing a comprehensive approach to tackle organised crime, from addressing the root causes of crime, such as poverty, unemployment, and social exclusion to stronger rules and tools for EU Agencies to support Member States to fight crime both online and offline.

The Commission will:

• Strengthen its legal framework to combat organised crime, and propose a revision of the legal framework on firearms trafficking and on drug precursors and present an EU Action Plan against drug trafficking;

• Enhance its capabilities to combat corruption, including the proposal of a new EU Anti-Corruption Strategy and the strengthening of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO);
• Protect victims' rights, including the proposal of a new EU Strategy on Victims' Rights;
• Present an Action Plan on Online Fraud and an Action Plan on the Protection of Children against Crime, to support and protect people and enhance law enforcement action.

How will the additional measures be financed?

The whole-of society approach adopted by the European Internal Security Strategy requires serious investment by all relevant actors: the EU, its Member States and the private sector. The future EU financing for internal security will be decided in the context of negotiations for the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

The Commission already allocates significant funding to security across various programmes, that can support the actions presented in the strategy. With around €9.77 billion for 2021-2027, support is scattered across the Internal Security Fund (ISF) with €1.9 billion, the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) which also supports security related capacity building and is allocated €6.2 billion. On top of that, Horizon Europe has €1.6 billion for Security research and innovation.