The EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator and the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union hosted the meeting of the Network of National Rapporteurs and Equivalent Mechanisms on trafficking in human beings (NREM) on 25-26 April 2023 in Brussels. The meeting addressed the external international dimension of trafficking in human beings.

The meeting brought together experts from the European Commission, the European External Action Service, Member States, EU agencies and international organisations. 

At the beginning of the meeting, Diane Schmitt, EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, welcomed the participants. In her opening speech, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johannson stressed the importance of cooperation between EU Member States and highlighted the need to jointly fight the spread of the online dimension of trafficking in human beings and to criminalise clients who knowingly exploit victims of trafficking in line with the Commission's proposal to amend 2011/36/EU Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims. On behalf of the Swedish Presidency, Charlotte Kugelberg, State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, underlined that the fight against this phenomenon is a moral, political and legal obligation.

During the two-day session, speakers and participants expressed their views on partnerships with international organisations, best practices in cooperation between countries of origin and transit, and projects funded by the EU and member states and implemented in third countries. A number of handbooks and information materials on how to fight trafficking in human beings were presented.

The Ministry of Interior, representing the National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, participated with a two-member delegation. They underlined the commitment of the Hungarian government to fight against trafficking in human beings and the participation of the Hungarian investigation authority in the Joint Days of Action of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT). Information was also provided on the second revised edition of the professional publication " Supporting Material for Professionals - SANSZ".

For more information on the European Commission's activities in the fight against trafficking in human beings, please visit:

https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/internal-security/organised-crime-and-human-trafficking/together-against-trafficking-human-beings_en