Overview: This 2018 edition of the annual TE-SAT provides an overview of the nature and volume of terrorism that the EU faced in 2017. Although the majority of Member States reported that they did not experience any terrorist attacks during the reporting period, the human suffering and the threat of attacks remains high. In this report you will not only find information about how many terrorist attacks took place in 2017, but also the number of arrests and convictions for terrorist crimes. A brief overview of the terrorist situation outside the EU is also included.
In 2017 European countries were again hit by terrorist attacks and there were many innocent victims of this indiscriminate violence. It therefore goes without saying that combatting terrorism remains a top priority for Europol.
To fight terrorism, it is essential to have optimal information exchange and accurate data. That is why the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) was created in 2007 so that the European Parliament and all national governments and police forces have an overview of the European situation on an annual basis. Since the first report, which gave an overview of the situation in 2006, many things have changed. Although it already appeared that the internet played an important role in the radicalisation of some perpetrators, and terrorists showed a preference for improvised explosive devices, the terrorist landscape has further diversified and the threat has increased.
