The Council of Europe Committee on Counter-Terrorism (CDCT) held its 14th meeting in Strasbourg on 20-21 May 2025 during which it concluded several activities under the Council of Europe Counter-Terrorism Strategy 2023-2027: the CDCT approved the “Guidelines on disengagement and reintegration programmes for women with links to terrorism”, and the “Guidelines on (re)integration programmes for children affected by terrorism”. These non-binding legal instruments provide essential practical guidance to support member States in formulating and implementing effective disengagement and social (re)integration programmes tailored to address the specific vulnerabilities and needs of women and children with links to and affected by terrorism, and uphold their rights, by paying due regard to gender and age dimensions in these processes. The CDCT also examined and approved the “Report on emerging patterns of misuse of technology by terrorist actors”, which analyses how and why terrorists use new technologies and identifies good practices and counter-terrorism responses to it.
In parallel, the CDCT discussed the status and next steps regarding the adoption of the draft Amending Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (CETS No. 196), following its transmission by the Committee of Ministers to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the preparation and adoption of its opinion. Lastly, the Plenary meeting was also dedicated to other ongoing activities, such as the preparation of the “Analysis of factors driving violent extremism leading to terrorism”, as well as the elaboration of a recommendations on “Combatting the promotion of terrorism and radicalisation on the internet”, and on “Prosecuting terrorist offences and serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the context of armed conflicts”.
Next Plenary meeting will take place in November 2025.