Spain and Portugal step up exchange of strategic information on Jihadi phenomenon and trends towards violent radicalisation in both countries

At the meeting, Jorge Fernández Díaz conveyed to his Portuguese counterpart Spain's firm commitment to the fight against Jihadi terrorism and highlighted that Spain is currently updating a series of legislative instruments in order to prosecute new terrorist offences and conduct in a more effective manner, which affects such issues as passive training, self-radicalisation ('lone wolves') inciting the commission and justification of terrorism acts through new technologies and returning combatants.

At the meeting, Jorge Fernández Díaz and Anabela Miranda Rodrigues committed to stepping up the exchange of strategic information on the Jihadi phenomenon and the trends towards violent radicalisation in both countries, as well as to maintaining close communication and coordination on home affairs issues within the framework of the European Union.

Jorge Fernández Díaz informed her that on Friday 20 January, the Council of Ministers approved the National Strategic Plan to Fight Violent Radicalisation (Spanish acronym: PEN-LCRV), and that on 2 February, Mariano Rajoy and the Leader of the Opposition signed a State Pact to Fight Jihadi Terrorism. Furthermore, at this meeting, Jorge Fernández Díaz explained to her that Spain decided, on 7 January, to increase the terrorist threat risk level from "Level 2 - High Intensity Degree" to "Level 3 - Low Intensity Degree", as a preventive measure following the terrorist attacks in Paris on 7 and 9 January in which 17 people died.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Díaz, informed his Portuguese counterpart, Anabela Miranda Rodrigues, that Spain considers implementing the European PNR (Passenger Name Record) to be of the utmost importance in the fight against terrorism, and stressed that unblocking the stalemate in the European Parliament on this issue must be a priority to counteract the greatest terrorist threat that Europe has faced in recent years.

Moreover, the Minister for Home Affairs pointed out that Spain supports the legislative amendment to the Schengen Border Code to allow a systematic check of those people that enjoy the right to free movement in data bases, including the Schengen Information System (SIS) and other systems, at external borders.

Jorge Fernández Díaz also highlighted the importance of the role of Europol in the fight against terrorist content on the Internet, and in this regard underlined that it is necessary to seek common solutions and prevent radicalisation and abusive use of the Internet for terrorist purposes.

Fight against illegal immigration

The Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Díaz, and the Minister of Internal Administration of Portugal, Anabela Miranda Rodrigues, corroborated that bilateral collaboration in the fight against illegal immigration and maritime surveillance is intense and fruitful, as shown by the various projects on which the two countries have been working, such as the interconnection of the Spanish Integrated Foreign Surveillance System (Spanish acronym: SIVE) and the Integrated System of Surveillance, Command and Control off the Portuguese Coast (Spanish acronym: SIVICCI) which will be key in developing the EUROSUR system, "and which show the European Union the intensity of our joint collaboration in the fight against drug trafficking and illegal immigration", asserted Jorge Fernández Díaz.

In this regard, Jorge Fernández Díaz praised the joint collaboration on the 'PERSEUS' and 'CLOSEYE' projects and on essential programmes for maritime control in the Mediterranean, such as the 'Seahorse Mediterráneo' project and the Light Surveillance Aircraft. The two ministers agreed that illegal immigration constitutes one of the main challenges which the Member States and the European Union as a whole are currently facing.

The Spanish Minister for Home Affairs recalled that the documents drawn up by the European Commission and the Italian Rotating Presidency on the work of the 'Mediterranean Task Force' contain measures relating to the four core areas that Spain considers essential in order to tackle the successful management of migratory flows: prevention at origin, operational cooperation with third countries of origin and transit, the fight against criminal networks that traffic immigrants by adopting specific measures, and improving the management of both European Union and third country borders of origin and transit.

On this issue, the two ministers considered that now is the time to take decisions on these specific projects, finance them and implement them as soon as possible, and they highlighted that it is essential for the European Union to have a genuine common migratory policy as one of the priorities on the European political agenda. Jorge Fernández Díaz also brought up the importance of coordinating development policies together with immigration policies so that they can translate into action that complements the effective management of borders and the fight against illegal immigration through actions that help contribute to the socio-cultural and economic development of the countries of origin.

Jorge Fernández Díaz informed Anabela Miranda Rodrigues that the European Agenda on Migration drawn up by the European Commission should not focus preferentially on legal immigration and asylum. The Spanish Minister for Home Affairs underlined that it must also take into account the strong migratory pressure suffered by the European Union and devote a core part of this to the fight against illegal immigration and human trafficking, external border control and prevention at origin through close cooperation with countries of origin and transit.

Fight against organised crime

Jorge Fernández Díaz took the opportunity offered by this meeting to confirm Spanish-Portuguese bilateral cooperation in the fight against organised crime, which the two ministers described as of "great importance and which is already showing excellent results".

The Minister for Home Affairs made special mention of the Telos Plan, which was designed to achieve coordinated actions by land, sea and air to combat hashish trafficking from North Africa to be distributed throughout Europe. On this issue, Jorge Fernández Díaz highlighted the cooperation with France and Morocco, and most particularly Portugal's actions, and thanked Minister Anabela Miranda Rodrigues for the excellent law enforcement collaboration between the Guardia Civil and the Portuguese security forces in implementing the Telos Plan.

Police cooperation - European Police Stations Project

Jorge Fernández Díaz and Anabela Miranda Rodrigues analysed the initial assessment of the five Police and Customs Cooperation Centres (PCCC) located on the border of Spain and Portugal. The two leaders agreed to underline the quality of work being carried on at the PCCCs as well as the good climate of cooperation that exists at the five centres, and committed to improving and bolstering the monthly coordination, support and advisory meetings between the PCCCs and the operating units, as well as the dissemination of the capabilities of these centres among the law enforcement services and improving their facilities and technical capacities.

The Ministers for Home Affairs of Spain and Portugal also highlighted the excellent acceptance of the European Police Stations Project in the two countries. They analysed this project which resulted in the deployment of Spanish National Police Force (Spanish acronym: CNP) patrols in Lisbon and Braga in Easter Weeks of 2013 and 2014, and of the Portuguese Public Security Police in Benalmádena and Torremolinos (Malaga) to provide law enforcement services in their own language to Spanish and Portuguese nationals on their holiday stays during Easter Week.

Given the positive acceptance of this project, the two ministers committed to extending the European Police Stations Project to the upcoming Easter Week. Specifically, during Easter Week 2015, four National Police officers will visit Portugal from 1 to 6 March (two in Lisbon and two in Braga) while two members of the Portuguese Security Forces will travel to Benalmádena (Malaga), from 20 to 30 March 2015.

Civil Protection Cooperation

Jorge Fernández Díaz and Anabela Miranda Rodrigues highlighted that during the 11th Civil Protection Mixed Commission meeting held on 18 December 2013 in Lisbon, a technical committee was set up with the aim of speeding up joint cooperation on Civil Protection issues between the two countries. The two ministers also agreed to push through collaboration on training issues through this Mixed Commission.

Jorge Fernández Díaz informed his Portuguese counterpart that the European Commission has approved the "West Tsunami Project", presented by the Directorate-General of Civil Protection and Emergencies under the Spanish Ministry of Home Affairs. This is a project that enables actions to be carried in Portugal, Spain and Morocco to be explored by the National Emergency Response Control Centres, in the event of a tsunami in the south-west of the Iberian Peninsula. This exercise is scheduled to be carried out in October 2015 in the waters of the Gulf of Cadiz.