Wednesday 9 November: RAN High Level Conference on Radicalisation

The news:

The European Commission and the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) Centre of Excellence are organising the 3rd RAN High Level Conference on Radicalisation in Brussels. The event will be hosted by Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, and Commissioner for the Security Union, Sir Julian King, and will bring together Ministers, policy makers and practitioners to discuss how to effectively prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism and terrorism. Discussions will focus on the issues around returning foreign terrorist fighters and children raised in a radicalised environment, as well as RAN support in designing national prevention strategies, structures and interventions. The participants will hear first-hand insights from RAN practitioners and will exchange best practice and expertise in the field.

The background:

The recent terrorist attacks in Europe have once again underlined the need to tackle radicalisation which can lead to violent extremism. The majority of terrorist suspects involved in those attacks were European citizens, born and raised in Member States, who were radicalised and turned against their fellow citizens to commit atrocities. Preventing radicalisation is a central pillar of the Union's efforts to counter terrorism as outlined in the European Agenda on Security in April 2015 and reaffirmed in the Communication on paving the way towards an effective and genuine Security Union in April 2016. To this end, the European Commission has undertaken several actions, including the launch in October 2015 of the RAN Centre of Excellence, which has become a European hub for identifying best practices in the of prevention of radicalisation, issuing practical recommendations and offering tailor-made support and guidance to policymakers and public authorities.

The Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) is a network of frontline practitioners from across Europe who work on a daily basis with people who have already been radicalised or who are vulnerable to radicalisation. These practitioners include police officers and prison and probation authorities, as well as teachers, youth and community workers, civil society representatives, local authority officials, healthcare professionals, representatives from victims of terrorism associations and academics.

The event:

Wednesday 9 November at 14:00: Keynote speeches by Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for the Security Union, Sir Julian King, and the Minister of Interior of Slovakia, Robert Kaliňák, followed by a discussion panel on "Tackling the challenges of returnees". Media attendance is only possible with pre-registration. To register please e-mail: Katarzyna.KOLANKO@ec.europa.eu. Available on the Committee of the Regions website.

The sources:

Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) - Website

Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) - Leaflet

The European Agenda for Security

The Communication on paving the way towards an effective and genuine Security Union

AGENDA/16/3623