247 Andreea Marica Measures and regulatory changes within the European Union... Member States create single contact points as soon as possible in order to facilitate the exchange of information34. Political cooperation, reflected for the most part in the exchange of information, is key to pursuing terrorists in order to prevent their planning, impede their networks and activities, block their financing and detect foreign fighters35, as well as creating better conditions for generating lists of radicalisers, recruiters or those conveying a radical message36 since it is police cooperation and that of the intelligence services of each state that may contribute to the dismantling of cells that may be far apart from one another yet interrelated37. Fostering greater exchange of information and intelligence between Member States and EU Agencies is one of the key components in order to facilitate the alerts shared relating to violent extremism, terrorist networks, foreign fighters, as well as the surveillance of and taking down of terrorist propaganda content from the internet38. For that matter, the EU security agencies such as Europol, Frontex and Eurojust play a decisive role in the fight against terrorism since they equip national competent authorities with the necessary tools to counter global terrorism. Nonetheless, it must be underscored that on the one hand operational cooperation between Member States and these agencies is imperative, yet this also goes for cooperation between the agencies themselves, as it provides particular added value, considering the complementarity of their mandates and competences, and thus this must be enhanced39. Moreover, it is worth noting that one of the major shortcomings regarding the support that the Agencies could provide is the fact that these are not yet connected to all of the different systems for the exchange of information that the national competent authorities in Member States have access to and available to them. Therefore, the existence of a series 34 Conclusions of the Council of the EU and of the Member States meeting within the Council on Counter-Terrorism, 20 November 2015. Doc. 14406/15, p. 5. 35 The term foreign fighters is used to describe those individuals who travel to a country that is not that of their residence or nationality with the purpose of perpetrating or planning attacks or facilitating or receiving terrorist training. It is estimated that between 3500 and 5000 EU nationals have become foreign fighters since the outbreak of war and violence in Syria, Iraq and Libya, and there is major concern surrounding their rapid increase and subsequent potential return to EU territory, which presents risks to the internal security of the Union and to the lives of EU citizens. Proposal for Joint Resolution on anti-terrorism measures (2015/2530(RSP)), 10 February 2015, Recital G and para 4. 36 Draft Council Conclusions on the use of a standardised, multidimensional semi-structured instrument for collecting data and information on the processes of radicalisation in the EU. Brussels, 16 April 2010 (19.04) (OR. en) 8570/10, ENFOPOL 99, p. 6. 37 THIEUX, L: “La Unión Europea frente al terrorismo global”, Rev. Papelets, N. 86, 2004, pp. 95-103, p. 99. 38 European Union Global Strategy, June 2016, p. 21. 39 Foreign Fighters: Eurojust’s Views on the Phenomenon and the Criminal Justice Response. http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee
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