Part II. European Law on Nationality and Statelessness This has led to further work on statelessness being taken up by the CDCJ, which sees statelessness as one of the topics of its ongoing activities. This renewed interest seems to have background in the migration ‘crisis’ that Europe faced and which was also considered in paragraph 2.7. Christophe Poirel, Director of Human Rights of the CoE, has indicated for instance that the issue of statelessness became “more acute with the migration crisis”.602 In 2019, an analysis was conducted of the current practices regarding the avoidance and reduction of statelessness by Europe.603 The presentation of this report led the CDCJ to decide to take on the recommended action and organize an “international conference on statelessness to raise awareness and promote implementation of Council of Europe standards in this field” as well as a “series of technical meetings on statelessness following the conference”.604 In September 2021, the CDCJ and UNHCR organized an International Conference and Technical Meeting of Experts on statelessness and the right to a nationality in Strasbourg. The technical meeting on the fi rst day was focused on the need for wellfunctioning statelessness determination procedures as well as preventing and reducing statelessness in Europe, among children in particular.605 Th is technical meeting identified a number of points that needed to be taken into account in enacting and improving such procedures and gaps. Highlighted were the need for access to proper legal assistance, shared burden of proof, special attention for people with ‘unknown’ or ‘undetermined’ nationalities, access to legal residence and, eventually, naturalization. It was, however, also indicated that confirmation of nationality may be appropriate where people had been resident in the territory for a long time and had previously been treated as a national.606 There was attention for deprivation of nationality and the need for further guidance on the proportionality test that is to be applied in this context was considered important. With regard to preventing childhood statelessness and ensuring child-friendly procedures, there was attention for specific groups of 602 603 604 605 606 116 Translated from the contribution of Christophe Poirel during the High-Level Panel ‘Eradicating Statelessness In Europe: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities’ of the 2021 Conference Statelessness and the Right to a Nationality in Europe: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities (Strasbourg, 24 September 2021). CDCJ, ‘Statelessness: Analysis of the Current Practices and Challenges regarding the Avoidance and Reduction of Statelessness in Europe prepared by Prof. Dr. Gerard-René de Groot’ (2019) CDCJ-GTAPA(2019)3 <https://rm.coe.int/analysis-statelessness-/1680990cc5> accessed 27 May 2021. CDCJ, ‘94th Meeting of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation, Strasbourg, 13–15 November 2019 – Meeting Report’ (2019) CDCJ(2019)10, para 9 <https://rm.coe.int/cdcj-2019–10e-meetingreport-cdcj-94/1680a1bf82> accessed 27 May 2021. UNHCR & CoE, ‘Identifying and Protecting Stateless Persons in Europe – Technical Meeting of Experts Issue Paper’ (2021) <https://rm.coe.int/briefing-paper-session-1-with-coverpage-enunhcr/1680a3e6a5> accessed 27 September 2021; UNHCR & CoE, ‘Realising the Right of Every Child to a Nationality in Europe – Technical Meeting of Experts Issue Paper’ (2021) <https://rm.coe.int/ session-2-thematic-paper-coverpage-en-fi nal/1680a3e6a1> accessed 27 September 2021. Summarized from the contribution of Professor Gerard- René de Groot during the High-Level Panel ‘Eradicating Statelessness in Europe: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities’ of the 2021 Conference Statelessness and the Right to a Nationality in Europe: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities (Strasbourg, 24 September 2021), who reported back on practical challenges and recommended actions as a result of the technical meeting of experts of 23 September 2021. Intersentia