On 11-12 June 2019 in Strasbourg, the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ) of the Council of Europe organised an Ad-hoc Meeting on Statelessness Determination Procedures. The meeting brought together national experts and European and international organisations working in this field, such as the UNHCR, the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Migration Network (EMN), to exchange views and experiences on national practices, recent gaps or new challenges and practical difficulties encountered by both national authorities and stateless persons. The aim was to seek how the Committee can provide its expertise and contribute to the on-going efforts undertaken by member states other organisations working in this field. The meeting was organised in the context of an upcoming CDCJ preliminary review of protocols and procedures used by member states to determine and resolve cases of statelessness, in particular of migrant children.

This activity is meant to be part to the Council of Europe Action Plan on protecting refugee and migrant children for 2017-2019 and will be taken into account when preparing the detailed analysis of the review. It will highlight notably the current gaps and difficulties encountered by practitioners and a step-by-step strategy of possible activities to be undertaken by CDCJ within its next biennium (2020-2021). The detailed analysis of the review will be presented to the CDCJ for consideration at its plenary meeting in November 2019.