The European Commission hosts on Monday the first high-level conference on the criminal justice response to radicalisation.

The conference brings together Justice Ministers of EU member states, MEPs, government officials, Eurojust and frontline practitioners including national prosecutors and prison directors, the Commission said in a statement.

EU  Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos, who is also present at the conference, commented: "Tackling radicalisation head-on is a key priority in our fight against terrorism. This is a challenge that goes beyond national borders, that requires collective efforts across Member States, at different levels of government, and through agencies and different sectors.”

Ministers and practitioners will focus their discussions on how to avoid radicalisation in prisons and improve risk assessment of inmates, including measures introduced so far, particularly patterns of inmate housing and how to detect signs of radicalisation in prisons.

Dealing with aspirant foreign fighters and returnees by judges and prosecutors in the national criminal justice systems will also be a topic for discussion.

EU Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova, who will lead discussions on how to deal with radicalisation better, and find the right criminal justice responses to this common challenge, said that the threat of radicalisation is growing across Europe with radicalisation in prisons being “a particular point of concern”.

“Online radicalisation and the issue of foreign fighters are new challenges that emerged over the last years. The Commission is committed to supporting Member States by funding projects in this field and training people in the criminal justice system to deal with radicalised persons,” Jourova said.

The conclusions of the Conference will be presented at the meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers in December.

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