CEPOL course 79/2018 European Explosive Ordnance Disposal Network (EEODN)

CEPOL and EUROPOL, supported by the Portuguese Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) through the Escola da Guarda (School of Guard), organized a conference/seminar and training session attended by 75 CBRN and/or explosives experts of the European Explosive Ordnance Disposal Network (EEODN), which took place from 16^th to 19^th of October 2018, at the School of Guard, at Queluz, Portugal.

Officers from 26 EU Member States plus Norway and the United States, together with experts from specialized agencies such as the EU DG Migration and Home Affairs, the Joint Research Centre – Geel, the NATO – C-IED CoE Madrid - Spain, the NATO EOD CoE Trencin – Slovakia, INTERPOL, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the EUROPOL - CBRN & Explosives team were present.

The main purpose of the conference was to promote the debate on recent cases involving the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and radiological materials (CBRN). The 23 experts involved as trainers were able to develop the participants’ knowledge, skills, techniques and tools through the analysis of the most recent incidents occurring in Europe.

This joint CEPOL / EUROPOL activity took place for the first time in Portugal, and the training programme was designed and jointly prepared by the National Republican Guard and EUROPOL. Several Units of the GNR were involved in the implementation of a training exercises set, namely: the EOD/IED Unit ( Centro de Inativação de Engenhos Explosivos e Segurança em Subsolo - CIESS), the Special Tactics Unit ( Grupo de Intervenção de Operações Especiais - GIOE) and the Protection, Hazmat and Rescue Unit ( Grupo de Intervenção de Proteção e Socorro - GIPS).

The participants were invited to combine all their knowledge and “hands on” capacity, challenged by the possibility of using innovative strategies and techniques for the neutralization of the highly complex and dangerous threats.

The Conference ended on October 19, after a debriefing on the methodologies, strategies and techniques used during the training, aiming to provide a reflection on the best practices to face this kind of threats