EU-funded research and the European Database of Terrorist Offenders (EDT)

The European Commission stimulates the proper use of risk assessment tools for violent extremism. The EU has funded several projects related to the VERA-2R, for example the Database and Assessment of Risk of Violent Extremists (DARE) and a study referred to as VERAPRO-2EU. The VERAPRO2-EU project (2020-2022) was a collaboration between the Dutch Probation Service, the Swedish Prison and Probation Board, the Belgian Justice Houses , the Belgian Ministry of Justice (FOD) and OCAD. This project focussed on the validation and reliability of the VERA-2R, as outlined above. As part of DARE, the European Database of Terrorist Offenders was developed. These projects have significantly contributed to the ongoing development and validation of the VERA-2R.

DARE and the EDT

The DARE project (2017-2019) was a partnership between the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (NIFP), the IKG Institute at the University of Bielefeld, and the Penitentiary Services of the Belgian Ministry of Justice. DARE facilitated and organized the training in the VERA-2R for many European professionals. During this project the development of the European Database of Terrorist offenders (EDT) commenced.

European Database of Terrorist Offenders (EDT)

The EDT is a research database comprising of comprehensive judicial information on European terrorist and violent extremist offenders, convicted (or deceased) from 2012 onwards. Developed in 2017, the database is the result of a European cross-border collaboration between judicial organizations and scientists within the European Union.

The EDT contains coded information from judicial files across EU Member States. It offers a structured codebook of 16 domains and around 400 items, including police, prosecution, detention, forensic, and probation reports. It covers risk and protective factors for terrorism, details on demographics, childhood circumstances, motives, ideologies, and mental health aspects. All VERA-2R indicators are also incorporated into the EDT. Researchers are trained in the codebook and complete practice cases to ensure accuracy and reliability. Qualitative information from judicial files is converted into quantitative codes for systematic analysis. The database is hosted by an independent, certified Dutch IT organisation and complies with GDPR and strict Dutch government security standards to protect personal data.

The main aim of the EDT is to create a unique and large dataset to examine specific risk and protective factors for terrorism by primary source data (Alberda et al., 2021). The EDT enables research on personal and contextual risk and protective factors for terrorism and violent extremism. It supports improving and validating the VERA-2R, exploring pathways into radicalisation, and developing effective prevention and intervention strategies. Research topics include key risk and protective factors, the role of mental health, subgroup comparisons (e.g., by ideology, age, or gender), risk patterns, and validation of terrorism risk assessment tools. The EDT has already been used in multiple scientific publications examining the development of the database (Alberda et al., 2021), the psychopathology of young terrorist offenders (Duits et al., 2022), motivations and extremist beliefs of jihadist offenders (Alberda et al., 2025), and risk factors for jihadist offenders committing homicide (Alberda et al., 2022). Today still, the EDT is continuously updated with cases of newly convicted terrorists, ensuring its relevance and utility for ongoing research.

Any questions or inquiries regarding the EDT, its data, or related research can be sent to: Europa@dji.minjus.nl.

SAFER-EU

The present EU-funded SAFER-EU research project (2025-2026) builds upon existing research on the VERA-2R and the enhancement of the European Database of Terrorist Offenders (EDT). The project is a collaboration between partners in Belgium and the Netherlands: the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (NIFP), the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC; Belgium), and the Federal Public Service Justice (Belgium).

The aim of SAFER-EU is to deepen the understanding of violent extremism and terrorism by analysing and enriching the EDT, creating a sub-database for extremist offenders (EDT-VEO) and conducting research on the applicability of the VERA-2R to different subgroups of (violent) extremist and terrorist offenders. The study examines differences by age, gender, and extremist ideology to improve risk assessments and management strategies. Results are expected by the end of 2026.