The European Union is tightening its regulations in a bid to thwart attacks on home turf as hundreds of fighters return from the battlefields of Iraq and Syria.
Plans to update and tighten rules on the sale of chemicals used to make homemade explosives were informally agreed with Council negotiators and are now slated to be formally approved by Parliament and Council before entering into force.
Chemicals regularly sold in Europe have been found in 40 per cent of homemade explosives used in terrorist attacks, the EU said in a press release.
A spokesperson for the European Parliament confirmed the move is part of the European Agenda for Security, which aims to respond to evolving terrorism tactics.
Rapporteur Andrejs Mamikins said that “stronger regulation of marketing and use of explosives precursors are essential steps in making Europe a safer place.”
“The new rules ensure clearer definitions, stricter control measures and better information-sharing along the supply chain,” he said.
The extended list of banned substances will include sulphuric acid, which is used to produce TATP – the explosive used in the 2015 attacks in Paris, the Brussels attack in 2016 and the Manchester attack in 2017.
Members of the general public will only be able to purchase the chemicals if in possession of special licencing. This reverses 2013 regulation by which these chemicals could be bought simply by showing an ID card.
Online marketplaces are equally covered by the rules on sale and on reporting of suspicious transactions.
“Preventing bomb-making, illicit trade in explosives – including on the 'dark web' – as well as harmonisation of marketing in the EU, were our priorities in the negotiations,” Mr Mamikins said.
The new rules will come into effect 18 months after their publication. Issued licences will remain valid 12 months after the application of the new rules.
The decision follows a 2017 European Commission appraisal that found that the current regulation “does not guarantee a sufficient level of protection of the safety of the general public”.
By setting restrictions and controls, the EU is now seeking to establish a common frame that makes it harder for terrorists to enter in possession of the required substances across Europe.
Most of the substances listed as "explosive precursors", however, have legitimate industrial uses and the restrictions will not apply to professionals who need to use these chemicals in connection to their trade or profession.
The move is part of the European Agenda for Security, which replaced the previous Internal Security Strategy that ran between 2010 and 2014.
Under the same framework, the EU approved new rules in December last year aimed at preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online. The new provisions oblige hosting service providers to remove extremist content identified by a national supervisory body within one hour from its notification.
The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), formally adopted in the autumn of 2018, also sought to tighten rules, this time with regards to nationals from non-EU countries that don’t need a visa to enter the Schengen Zone.
ETIAS – an electronic system that allows and keeps track of visitors and operates a detailed security check prior to their entry – is set to become a data gathering system that will substantially decrease security concerns for the EU.
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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Rating: 3/5
Directed by: David Yates
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About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
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- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
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- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
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Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
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Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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