On 26 February 2026, the Commission presented a new Agenda[1] putting forward a comprehensive set of cross-sectoral initiatives to prevent and counter terrorism by stepping up the EU preparedness and response. Announced in the ProtectEU action[2], the Agenda finds its rationale in the fact that the increasing links between terrorism and other crime areas, as well as the blurred lines between online and physical operations, pose a particular challenge to defining and identifying terrorist offences. Despite the EU has already taken steps to tackle terrorism and violent extremism, the overall threat level remains high, requiring a single action at EU level. The Agenda combines ongoing and new initiatives to keep up with the fast-evolving landscape, anticipate threats, prevent radicalisation, protect people both online and offline and strengthen the global fight against terrorism in line with international law. The Agenda is built around six pillars.
First, the Agenda highlights that the dynamic nature of emerging threats requires, on the one hand, strengthened law enforcement anticipation capabilities and, on the other hand, the ability to identify the risks and opportunities stemming from new technologies. The Agenda, therefore, proposes measures to improve situational awareness and the early detection of emerging threats such as, amongst others, increasing the resources and capacities of intelligence analysis of the EU Single Intelligence Analysis Capacity (SIAC)[3], reinforcing Europol’s analytical support capacities, including open-source intelligence (OSINT) ones, and supporting the testing and deployment of EU-funded solutions to equip law enforcement with state-of-the-art tools.
Second, preventing radicalisation requires a holistic approach and long-term strategies. In particular, minors’ involvement in radicalisation and terrorism affects not only the minors concerned, but likewise communities and society. To prevent minors being radicalised across Europe, the Commission will build on the activities of the Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation[4] and focus on early detection, resilience through education and social integration to provide strategic guidance. The Hub will also develop tools to assess and manage risks in the pre-release phase of prisoners who have served their sentence but may have been radicalised. Finally, the Commission will launch a Community Engagement and Empowerment Programme (CEEP) allocating EUR 5 million to equip civil society and practitioners with digital skills for effective online interventions and to amplify the voices of youth engaged in prevention.
Third, despite the EU has built one of the most advanced regulatory frameworks in the world to counter terrorist activity online, extremist networks tend to adapt quickly, exploit emerging technologies and shift from open platforms to closed chats and encrypted services. To ensure people online are adequately protected, the Commission will consider revising the Terrorist Content Online Regulation[5] to keep it fit for purpose and enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA)[6]. Furthermore, the Commission will upgrade the EU Crisis Protocol[7] into an EU Online Crisis Response Framework to be relied on by Member States where an incident leads to heightened online activity related to an attack and to anchor it in the DSA environment, thereby ensuring a coordinated response to crises.
The Commission also intends to make sure people are protected in the physical environment. Since timely access to data is cardinal to identifying foreign terrorist fighters and terrorist suspects at borders, the Commission, together with Europol, will strengthen cooperation with trusted third countries to obtain biographic and biometric data on individuals that might pose a terrorist threat, for them to be inserted into the Schengen Information System (SIS) in full compliance with applicable EU and national legal frameworks. Furthermore, the Commission will explore options to expand the framework on advanced travel information to include private flights, maritime and land transport, which is currently limited to commercial air transport thereby resulting in legal and operational loopholes that terrorists may exploit to move across the EU.
Fourth, to ensure a swift and coordinated response to terrorist threats and attacks, the law enforcement and judicial agencies need to be further strengthened across Europe, and further efforts are called for to close the remaining gaps and foreclose counter terrorist financing. In this regard, the Commission will launch a study to assess and identify the appropriate measures to establish a future EU-wide system to enable the retrieval of financial data for the purpose of tracking terrorist financing and organised crime as well as revise Europol and Eurojust’s mandates. Moreover, the Commission will support closer cooperation and information sharing between financial intelligence units, law enforcement, financial institutions and online service providers. Finally, since the external and internal dimensions of terrorism and violent extremism are intrinsically linked, the Commission will strengthen international cooperation with trusted partner countries following a human-rights based approach.