(Strasbourg, 11-12 June 2019)

Bearing in mind the Council of Europe Action Plan on protecting refugee and migrant children for 2017-2019 and to seek how best the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ) can provide its expertise and contribute to the on-going efforts undertaken by member States and simultaneously complement the work currently carried out by other European and international stakeholders in the field, such as the UNHCR, a working group composed of CDCJ members and key stakeholders reviewed, at an ad hoc meeting held in June 2019, the protocols and procedures used by member States (i) to determine, in cases where it is uncertain, the nationality of recently arrived migrants (in particular, children) as well as (ii) to resolve cases of statelessness, and identified notably the gaps and new challenges in this field.

The outcome of their work was taken into account in an detailed analysis of current practices and challenges regarding the avoidance and reduction of statelessness in Europe.

CDCJ considered this analysis at its 94th plenary meeting (13-15 November 2019). As a follow-up, the CDCJ agreed the activities below to be carried out during the next two years:

• an international conference on statelessness to raise awareness and promote implementation of Council of Europe standards in this field and, subsequently,
• a series of technical meetings on targeted statelessness issues.