Anti-terrorism legislation crisis between the European Union and Sweden
According to information provided by a spokesman for the EU Commission, the anti-terror law that entered into force on June 1 in Sweden will also be examined by the EU, of which it is a member. The reason for this is the “violation of EU rules” procedure started in 2021 with regard to Sweden.
The EU Commission launched a rule violation procedure against its member state Sweden in 2021, arguing that some elements of the EU’s anti-terrorism rules were not correctly reflected in Sweden’s anti-terrorism laws.
The Commission officially notified the Swedish government of this on November 12, 2021. Sweden replied to the official letter from the EU Commission on January 11, 2022. However, since the violation did not disappear, the violation procedure continued.
THE EU WILL REVIEW
The anti-terrorism rules, which according to the EU in 2021 “were not correctly transposed into Swedish law”, contain serious elements.
These include criminalizing and punishing terrorism-related acts such as “going abroad to commit a terrorist offence, returning to the EU after such an act and roaming within the EU for such activities, receiving terrorist training and financing terrorism”.
EU rules also include specific provisions, such as ensuring that victims of terrorism have access to reliable information and providing professional and specialized support services to victims of terrorist attacks immediately after the attacks or for as long as necessary.
These rules, which the EU considers an important part of the Anti-Terrorism Agenda, had to be transposed into their national laws by the member states before September 8, 2018. It was also for these reasons that the EU Commission launched an infringement procedure with respect to Sweden in 2021.
The EU will review and assess Sweden’s new anti-terror law as part of this ongoing infringement procedure.
The EU Commission first sends an official notification letter to the member state that is believed to have committed an infringement and, in the next stage, sends a reasoned opinion. Despite these steps, if the member state does not remove the violation, a violation case can be brought to the Court of Justice of the EU.
THE LAW WAS EFFECTIVE ON JUNE 1
As part of the constitutional reform approved by the Swedish Parliament on May 3, the new penal code for the fight against terrorism entered into force on June 1. The law was one of Turkey’s main requests to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership.
The law, which is intended to criminalize membership of terrorist organizations in the country, provides for a prison sentence of up to 4 years for those who participate in terrorist activities and cooperate with terrorist organizations.
Under the law, those who participate in activities with the intention of supporting, strengthening or encouraging a terrorist organization can be sentenced to a maximum of 4 years in prison. If there are aggravating causes, the penalty for these crimes will be a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 8 years in prison.
Those who are involved in crimes such as weapons, ammunition, flammable and explosive materials, transportation support, leasing of land and goods to the terrorist organization can be sentenced to up to 4 years in prison. If there are aggravating causes for these crimes, a prison sentence of up to 1.5 to 7 years is provided.
The law also gives authorities much broader powers to detain and prosecute people who finance or support terrorist organizations. (AA)