Paris attacks: time for action, not just words

"We need to act calmly but also be decisive in our actions", said Manfred Weber MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, during the debate on the Paris attacks in the European Parliament today. Manfred Weber urged Member States to act quickly: "In the Council you keep copying and pasting the same decisions. The same speeches are being held. Now it is time to get down to work", he said.

Manfred Weber underlined the need to work together and deliver at European level: "We need an agreement on PNR (Passenger Name Record), but we also need a review of the EU Data Protection Directive. We need EU data storage legislation and we need to stop the funding of terrorism", he said. "We need results. We know this is a challenge for Europe as a whole. It is now time for action, not just words."

Referring to the French Interior Minister's recent declarations on PNR, Manfred Weber said: "When I hear the French Socialist Government calling on the European Parliament to act on PNR at long last, I say to them: please talk to your Socialist colleagues in the European Parliament! The EPP Group is ready to deliver."

"It is not Islam, not Muslim people that are the problem, it is these barbarous terrorists. Just like refugees coming into Europe are not the perpetrators of terrorism, they are its victims. The fact that certain politicians are trying to create a general climate of suspicion around Muslims and refugees is unacceptable", underlined the Chairman of the EPP Group.