The jihadist terror threat is still high but Europe is more prepared today than it was two years ago, according to European Commissioner for home affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos.
EU members states have come together to combat terrorism, which Mr Avramopoulos admitted had mutated into “totally unpredictable acts” committed by individuals determined to kill themselves.
He said the EU had partnered with internet companies to combat terrorism propaganda online, adding more still had to be done with some of the smaller platforms where terrorists shared information and disseminated their dangerous ideology.
He was speaking in Malta this afternoon at the launch of the Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2017 by Europol, the EU law enforcement cooperation agency.
Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia said EU member states had agreed on new rules to criminalise terrorist acts across the EU, including facilitating the travel of terrorists out of and into the union.
The report which details terrorist activity in 2016, shows that there were 13 religiously-inspired terrorism attacks.
Although they formed a small portion of the 142 terrorism cases across the EU, the religiously-inspired terror acts were by far the deadliest.
From the 142 people killed by all terror attacks, 135 were victims of jihadist terrorism. Out of the 379 casualties, 374 were injured in terror attacks inspired by religion.
Jihadist attacks that were completed, failed or foiled happened in Belgium, France and Germany.
The report noted the increasing difficulty of combatting the terror phenomenon involving lone individuals, who are not directed by Islamic State’s central organisation but are inspired by its beliefs.
France topped the list of arrests with 429 people detained on suspicion of links to jihadist terrorism. It was followed by Spain (69 arrests) and Belgium (62).
Rob Wainwright, Europol executive director, said the jihadist threat in Europe remained high, with more women and children becoming engaged in terrorism activity.
But the report, which documented all forms of terrorism, found that the largest number of terrorist attacks (99) were linked to separatist groups in the UK (Northern Ireland), France and Spain.
The UK alone reported 76 terror attacks or foiled attempts by Dissident Republicans in Northern Ireland, targeting mainly the police, prison officers and members of the armed forces. These involved 49 shooting incidents and 27 bombing incidents.