National parliaments of EU to combat terrorism together: EP president

EU national parliaments will fight terrorism together, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said at a conference of EU parliamentary chiefs here on Monday to set up the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) for Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency.

Tajani urged the secret services from individual members to cooperate more closely, "because terrorism doesn't know any borders." European citizens tend to believe that the EU isn't able to react flexibly enough to their concerns, he said.

"This pours oil on the flames of populism," said Tajani, adding that populists were attempting to create the appearance of a discrepancy between the European project and national interests.

"The EU has done a lot for its people, but these results from the past aren't enough for securing a future for the European project as well," Tajani pointed out.

European Commission Vice-President for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness Jyrki Katainen stressed that European people "should feel like the owners of Europe's future. Our member countries will make up a new European 27 following Brexit. We need a new direction, content, and commitments."

Katainen added that he hopes that all national parliaments in the EU will have created their own visions for the EU's future by the end of this year to be presented to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Around 300 delegates from all EU countries are attending the event in Bratislava. Endit