The Path to Death: How EU Failures Helped Paris Terrorists Obtain Weapons

Major feature. Where did the weapons used in the January and November 2015 terror attacks in Paris come from? Files from the ongoing investigation now make it possible to follow the trail. Years of EU shortcomings helped the firearms on their way.

SPIEGEL has taken the step of founding the European Investigative Collaboration (EIC) together with media organisations involved in investigative reporting from eight European countries.

The first joint reporting project of the alliance is 'Mapping the weapons of terror' - research into the origins of the weapons used in the Paris terrorist attacks that took place in January and November 2015. SPIEGEL reporters and their international partners followed the trail in Serbia, Slovakia, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany.

Reporters Jürgen Dahlkamp, Jörg Schmitt, Andreas Ulrich, Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt and Stefan Candea were able to obtain among other things classified ballistics reports, French police reports on raids and interrogations as well as Danish and German court files.

The reporting resulting from the initiative shows that the EU's weapons policies in recent decades have been a failure. Despite police warnings of a present and deadly threat, the EU did not move to close critical loopholes in gun laws.

Website: European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) http://www.eic.network/

Council of the European Union: Draft Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 91/477/EEC on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons - Policy debate, March 2016 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CONSIL:ST_6755_2016_INIT&qid=1458835665229&from=EN

ESO: Background information: European Commission strengthens control of firearms across the EU http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-european-commission-strengthens-control-of-firearms-across-the-eu/

ESO: Background information: Letter to President François Hollande of France from European Council President Donald Tusk on the attacks in Paris / Joint statement of the Heads of State or Government and leaders of the European Union and its institutions on the terrorist attacks in Paris http://www.europeansources.info/record/countries-rethink-commitments-to-accept-refugees/

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