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in practice what was politically agreed after previ-
ous attacks. On information exchange: The
European Counter-Terrorism Centre from Europol
has become a reality. We have secured addition-
al resources for it. Now, it is time for EU countries
to make full use of it and to share more data. It
must become the nerve-centre of our counter-terror
strategy. We have agreed to set up a joint liaison
team of national experts. I urge member states to
send their experts immediately and to share infor-
mation. Data must be interconnected to be useful.
Political decisions were taken. Why are they not
implemented? Our existing tools are useless if
they are not put to proper use.
“Take for example, the explosives used in Paris
and in Brussels attacks.They were home-made.
We cannot allow terrorists to buy these sub-
stances so easily. We have a Regulation on
Explosives in place since 2013. Why is it not fully
implemented? Other concrete examples: first, the
Prüm system for police forensic data; second, the
Schengen Information System; and third, the
Interpol databases on Stolen and Lost Travel
Documents. All these remain full of gaps in imple-
mentation. I have also made some proposals on
equally important issues, which have, nonethe-
less, not been yet adopted and implemented.
Such as the European Border and Coast Guard,
the proposal on firearms, the new proposed
Directive on Terrorism. I urge everybody to adopt
these swiftly and to maintain the high level of
ambition of the initial proposals. Otherwise they
will be meaningless for security. Finally, let’s not
forget the aspect of root causes. The perpetrators
of the Brussels attacks, just like the Paris attacks,
were EU citizens. These are our citizens. Let me
