Placing instructions on how to make a bomb on the internet will become a criminal offence across Europe under plans outlined by Brussels yesterday.

Arguments about freedom of expression will not be allowed to stand in the way of criminalising the publication of bomb-making information that could be used by terrorists, a senior EU official said.

It will be part of a range of antiterrorist proposals to be published in the autumn that will also include the collection of airline passenger data from every flight in and out of the EU. The extension of measures was promised yesterday by Franco Frattini, the EU Justice Commissioner, after the British car bomb plot and the murder of Spanish tourists in Yemen.

Internet service providers (ISPs) would face charges if they failed to block websites containing bomb-making instructions generated anywhere in the world, EU officials said.

‘Items sent as earthquake aid’

Hidden among clothing were goods selected and purchased to support the activities of terrorists, a court was told

Multimedia

• Pictures: Glasgow airport attack

BACKGROUND

• Brown plans to double 28-day detention limit

• Men in bungled raid say police attacked again

• More than Vigilance

• 'Dirty bomb' mastermind plotted wave of atrocities across Britain

• Jihadi house parties of hate

Related Links

• Q&A: Censoring the net

• Al-Qaeda in Iraq boasted of medics bomb plot to Anglican cleric

“It should simply not be possible to leave people free to instruct other people on the internet on how to make a bomb – that has nothing to do with freedom of expression,” Mr Frattini said yesterday.

“My proposal will be to criminalise actions and instructions to make a bomb because it is too often that we discover websites that contain complete instructions for homemade bombs.”

An internet search yesterday instantly turned up a site that gave instructions on making a rudimentary bomb.

EU officials denied that it would be impossible to track down websites based in remote places, insisting that the local provider based in the EU could be held to account. One said: “You always need a provider here that gives you access to websites. They can decide technically which websites to allow. Otherwise how would China block internet sites? There are no technological obstacles, only legal ones.”

But the Internet Services Providers’ Association (Ispa) said that it would fight any attempt to make ISPs criminally liable for content.

A spokesman described ISPs as “mere conduits”, carriers of information like the postal service. He added: “An ISP is not a publisher. It does not have editorial control over content posted on its servers by a third party.”

A government spokeswoman said that British-based sites that gave clear bomb-making instructions could result in prosecution for encouragement to commit a terrorist act under the Terrorism Act 2006. But she added that there were problems of jurisdiction if the site was hosted outside Britain.

The EU can bring in basic criminal penalties in two ways – either with the unanimous approval of all 27 member states or in some policy areas where Britain has an opt-out. In either case, the basic proposal would then be put into effect by individual countries in their own legal systems.

The EU package will also include preparations for bioterrorism attacks and a European rapid-alert system for lost or stolen explosives. Mr Frattini added that a transatlantic passenger name record-sharing agreement between the EU and US completed last week should lead to the EU setting up its own system. This would require airlines to submit certain data such as passport and credit card details which could be used by national security agencies. The US can keep the data for 15 years but after the first seven it becomes “dormant” and can only be accessed case by case.

Times Recommends

• Don't despair: great players learn from defeat
• Pope clears way for Cardinal Newman sainthood
• Ecclestone: despots are underrated