Police cooperation: establishment of the European Police College CEPOL. Initiative Portugal

PURPOSE: Portuguese initiative regarding the provisional establishment of the European Police College (EPC). CONTENT: The European Council, meeting in Tampere in October 1999, agreed that a European Police College (EPC) for the training of senior police officers should be established. The EPC should start as a network of existing national training institutes, without precluding the establishment of a permanent institution at a later stage. The aim of the EPC will be to help train the senior law enforcement officers of the Member States, by supporting and developing a European approach to the main problems arising in Member States in the field of crime-fighting and protecting internal security with the following objectives: - to increase knowledge of the national police systems and structures of other Member States, - to strengthen knowledge of international instruments, in particular those which already exist at EU level in the field of cooperation on combating crime, - to optimise cooperation and coordination between the college and other multinational police training institutes in Europe on the subject of cross-border cooperation between police forces in Europe. The EPC would also offer its facilities to the senior law enforcement officers of Iceland and Norway and those countries that have applied for EU accession. The directors of the national police training institutes will form the governing board of the EPC. Each Member State will have one vote on the board and the board will be chaired by the director of the national institute of the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council. It will draw up rules of procedure by common agreement among the national delegations. The rules of procedure will provide for the establishment of a bureau which shall be responsible for preparing the deliberations of the governing board and overseeing the management of the permanent secretariat - a body that will assist the EPC with the administrative tasks necessary for the College to function and implement annual programmes. The secretariat will be set up within one of the national police academies on the basis of a board decision adopted by common agreement among the delegations. All other decisions taken by the governing board will be taken by a majority of delegations. The secretariat will be headed by a secretary appointed by the governing board for three years. the costs of implementing the actions in the EPC's annual work programme (training sessions on police cooperation, specialist training on combating organised crime, training for trainers, dissemination of best practice and results of research, language training, etc.), together with the administrative costs of the EPC, will be jointly borne by the Member States. At the latest during the third year following the entry into force of this Decision, the governing body shall submit to the Council a report containing recommendations on how the College should develop, in particular at institutional level.�