Brussels, 09/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European education ministers will meet in Paris on 17 March to discuss possible measures to fight radicalisation, the European Commission announced on Monday 9 February. This meeting was decided upon following the terrorist attacks in Paris on 7 January of this year. The Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics, who will attend the meeting, said “now more than ever, we need to build cohesive communities, and find ways to live together as a society. Education helps us to understand and accept our differences, overcome alienation, and create belonging and inclusion. I hope to see all education ministers in Paris so that we can show solidarity and start a debate on the role education can play - and how Europe can make a difference”.
This meeting is the fruit of a joint meeting between the French government, the European Commission and the Latvian Presidency of the Council. The Commission stresses that the European Union supports international efforts to fight radicalisation and, in 2011, set up a “Radicalisation Awareness Network”. This is a discussion platform which brings players such as teachers and educators who are in direct contact with vulnerable individuals likely to fall into radicalisation, to hold exchanges and develop “best practices”. The national efforts of the EU to fight radicalisation will also be part of the European Agenda on Security 2015-2020, which the Vice-President of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, has announced for May. (Isabelle Lamberty)