MIGRATION AND HOME AFFAIRS - Preparing for the Town Hall Meeting

The EU Knowledge Hub is preparing for the Town Hall meeting on 14 May 2025 in Brussels gathering representatives from Member States, practitioners and researchers. The meeting will be part of the Commission’s stakeholders’ consultations on the upcoming EU Agenda on preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism. The event will include expert-led break-out group discussions to identify challenges and possible responses, including a prevention toolbox, which will shape Knowledge Hub’s work in the years to come.

date: 29/04/2025

Reading time: 2 min

As we move into the final stages of preparation for the upcoming Town Hall meeting in Brussels, work is underway for this important date in the EU Knowledge Hub’s calendar. Next month on 14 May, representatives from EU Member States, practitioners and researchers will come together to provide insights to help shape the upcoming EU Agenda on preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism.

The Agenda will provide the foundations for EU level security efforts over the next five years. It builds on the ProtectEU Strategy presented by the Commission on April 1, which serves as the new EU strategic framework providing a comprehensive response to addressing all internal security threats—both online and offline. The Agenda will be a more specific strategic document focussing on actions at European level to prevent and countering terrorism and violent extremism.

In line with the ProtectEU Strategy, the agenda will continue to embrace a whole-of-society perspective to addressing today’s dynamic threat landscape. This means active involvement of all relevant actors – national authorities, civil society and private sector, practitioners and academics. This approach also calls for measures from all adjacent policy fields.

The Town Hall will provide a platform for key stakeholders – including policymakers, experts, and practitioners – to discuss and provide input as part of the consultation process leading to the Agenda. Through this collaborative approach, the goal is to ensure practical and concrete suggestions for EU-level actions that can effectively support prevention efforts in Europe and help address the challenges raised by terrorism and violent extremism in our societies.

The meeting will feature break-out group discussions on specific topics. These discussions will allow for deeper exploration of key issues, fostering targeted exchanges.

We look forward to the outcomes of the Town Hall, which will help to shape the agenda in the next phase of the EU Knowledge Hub’s work.