Prevention of crime: European network. Initiative France and Sweden

PURPOSE : to present the initiative of the French Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden with a view to the adoption of a Council Decision setting up a European crime prevention network. CONTENT : it is proposed that the Network shall have a Governing Board and a General Secretariat. It is also proposed that it shall consist of contact points designated by each Member State which are intended to represent at the least, the national authorities competent for crime prevention in its many aspects on the one hand and researchers or academics specialising in this field on the other. Others involved in the field, particularly non-governmental organisations, local authorities and the private sector may also be represented. The Commission shall also designate a contact point. A Europol contact point shall participate in the Network for the aspects which concern it. The Network shall contribute to developing the varied aspects of crime prevention at Union level and shall support crime prevention activities at local and national level. In particular, the Network shall: - report to the Council on its activities each year, through competent working bodies, and state the areas for priority action in its work programme for the following year. The report shall be forwarded to the European Parliament. Although it will cover all types of criminality, the Network will pay particular attention to the fields of juvenile, urban and drug-related crime; - be available to the Council and to the Commission to assist them at their request with any question relating to crime prevention, and particularly take account of preventative aspects of legislative acts, decisions and other instruments and to assist the Council and the Commission to identify effective strategies for crime prevention, particularly in connection with the implementation of the Community programme relating to crime prevention; - facilitate cooperation, contacts and exchanges of information and experience between Member States and national organisations, as well as between the Commission; - collect and analyse information on existing crime prevention activities, the evaluation thereof and the analysis of best practices, and collect and analyse existing data on criminality and on its development in the Member States; - contribute to identifying and developing the main area for research, training and evaluation in the crime prevention field; - organise conferences, seminars and other activities designed to promote consideration of these specific matters; - organise the annual award of the European Crime Prevention Prize. �