Representatives of CEPOL’s National Contact Points and Europol’s National Units met on 12th and 13th April at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. Discussions at this joint meeting centered on the question of how cooperation and coordination at a national level between the National Units at Europol and the National Contact Points of CEPOL can be enhanced.
The joint meeting was a special occasion for both directors, Mr. Wainwright of Europol and Dr. Bánfi of CEPOL: “We bring two communities together and work side by side in helping the Member States fighting crime and terrorism for a safer Europe" said Dr. Bánfi.
European Police College
CEPOL stands for “Collège Européen de Police”, the European Police College. CEPOL is an EU agency that provides training and learning opportunities to law enforcement officers on issues vital to the security of the European Union and its citizens. Training covers topics ranging from leadership to law enforcement techniques and from EU cooperation to counter terrorism and migration issues. Activities are designed to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practices and to contribute to the development of a common European law enforcement culture.
European Law Enforcement Agency
Europol is the European Union’s law enforcement agency whose main goal is to help achieve a safer Europe for the benefit of all EU citizens. It is the intelligence organisation within the EU. Europol assists the European Union’s Member States in their fight against serious international crime and terrorism. For this, Europol provides information exchange between the police authorities of the EU Member States.
National Contact Points – National Units
The National Contact Points (NCPs) are the points of contact for CEPOL in each EU Member State, but also in associated countries. NCPs are critical to CEPOL success, in terms of implementing training activities and in facilitating the participation of law enforcement officers in the training activities.
Regarding Europol, each of the 28 EU Member States has set up a Europol National Unit (ENU) in their respective countries. The other non-EU partners countries such as Australia, Canada, the USA and Norway, have created a Europol National Contact Point (Europol NCP).
Cooperation in training and sharing knowledge
A number of training courses offered by CEPOL are carried out jointly by Europol and CEPOL. By sharing training and knowledge at international level, the quality of law enforcement investigations can be improved. This joint meeting opens a new chapter in cooperation and better understanding by sharing thoughts and views. During the meeting the participants spoke about enhance alignment between national units. In workshops they shared their experiences and best practices. By example how training can support the operational field of Europol and how to communicate training needs to CEPOL. Both organisations gained a lot to build upon. The cooperation is valuable and worthwhile to continue the dialog.
The Netherlands and the EU Presidency
During this first half of 2016, the Netherlands holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union. This means that the Netherlands holds the presidency of the CEPOL Governing Board and Europol’s Management Board. Consequently, Ms. Sandra Wijkhuijs, CEPOL NCP, and Mr. David Allen, chair of the HENU, have chaired together the joint NCP and HENU meeting.
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