Report from the CERIS Expert Group plenary meeting

On 26 and 27 November 2024, 54 out of 64 members of the CERIS Expert Group met in Brussels, under the steer of European Commission, DG HOME.F2, for their annual plenary meeting.

CERIS provides a platform for policy makers, security practitioners, researchers and academia, industry and civil society to identify gaps and needs, as well as solutions for civil security. Set up in October 2022, the CERIS expert group is the backbone of the CERIS community, which counts more than 3500 subscribers.

The 64 members of the CERIS expert group are key in preparing and implementing the CERIS workshops as speakers, panellists, and moderators, which are open to the wider CERIS community and to the public. They were also behind the drafting of the first CERIS annual report, showcasing how CERIS and EU security research as a whole help in making Europe more resilient to emerging and future security threats and risks.

During this meeting, the experts discussed the lessons learnt from the drafting of the first CERIS report and the 18 CERIS workshops organised during the past year. They also identified a list of topics for CERIS events to be carried out in 2025, ranging inter alia from online identity theft and countering fake information online, seabed infrastructure, missing persons and drugs trade to solutions for first responders, identity for security and travel facilitation, and trafficking in endangered species of wild fauna and flora.

After brainstorming on the programme for the coming year in a horizontal meeting, experts split into separate sessions to continue working on identifying specific topics to be covered in the 2^nd CERIS annual report, leading to a profitable exchange of ideas and perspectives.

Most members of the CERIS Expert Group also participated in the annual event of the EU Innovation Hub for Internal Security on 28 November, ensuring a coherent approach between CERIS and the Hub. Coming from all over Europe to participate in both events, the CERIS experts once again showed their dedication and full commitment to civil security research and innovation.

For more information on the CERIS Expert Group, please visit the Commission registry of Expert Groups. To download the first CERIS report, please visit the OP Portal.