The influential Civil Liberties committee of MPs at the European Parliament has just agreed on a draft counter-terrorism directive for the European Union. Mediapart can reveal that the content of the text has been considerably influenced by Paris, which has been keen to include measures already adopted in France in recent years. These include a new crime of glorifying or praising terrorism, blocking access to websites and boosting the number of surveillance tools. Jérôme Hourdeaux reports.
During the last week of May a group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) took part in an unusual 'sightseeing' visit to the Paris region. The welcome planned by France's interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve included a meeting with top French intelligence officials, a visit to see French special forces and, the highlight of the trip, a demonstration by members of the elite French police unit RAID.
