European Union leaders agreed on Thursday on stricter security measures in the 26-nation Schengen zone as part of a revamped counter-terrorism strategy following last month’s Paris attacks.

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday on stricter security measures in the 26-nation Schengen zone as part of a revamped counter-terrorism strategy following last month's Paris attacks.

Actions unanimously endorsed at an EU summit meeting include the sharing of airline passenger data, tougher border controls on travelers and the detection and removal of Internet content promoting terrorism or extremism.

"All citizens have the right to live free from fear, whatever their opinions or beliefs," the EU leaders declared in a joint statement. "We will safeguard our common values and protect all from violence based on ethnic or religious motivations and racism."

Gilles de Kerchove, the EU's top counter-terrorism official, told The Associated Press that the leaders' action plan, some of which still requires approval by the European Parliament to go into effect, will make Europeans safer.

It "keeps reducing our vulnerabilities," De Kerchove said. In a report to the 28 EU member countries last month, De Kerchove warned "Europe is facing an unprecedented, diverse and serious terrorist threat."

Counter-terrorism policy shot to the top of the EU agenda following the Jan.7-9 attacks in Paris against a satirical weekly, a policewoman and a kosher grocery store that claimed a total of 17 people.

The three gunmen, who proclaimed allegiance to Al-Qaeda in Yemen and the Islamic State group, were also shot dead by French police.

The attacks mobilized France and other EU member countries to seek more effective ways to deal with armed Islamic militancy, especially the problem of radicalized European-born Muslims who go to fight in Syria or Iraq and then return home.