On 3-6 May 2011 the Police Department of the Republic of Lithuania in collaboration with the Lithuanian Police School hosted CEPOL course “Police Cooperation and Europol”. The activity attracted 19 participants from 13 Member States plus Turkey. Lessons, lectures and workshops were given by a total of ten experts from Lithuania, Belgium, France, Poland and Europol.
Visvaldas Ra?kauskas, Deputy Police Commissioner General, stated during the opening session that, mobility and technology as well as free movement of goods and services directly affect criminal activities in the EU. Law enforcement authorities should have sufficient intellectual, physical and technical resources to put them one step ahead of potential criminals. The aim of Europol is to increase the responsibility and effectiveness of Member State authorities as well as to promote their cooperation in combating transnational organised crime and terrorism, and the prevention thereof. The objective of this course is to familiarise participants with the tools available to Europol in the fight against transnational organised crime and to develop a shared vision of how we can improve the fight against organised crime with the support of Europol and ensure the public’s expectations in public order and safety.
The following topics were presented and discussed during the course:
- The Stockholm Programme and the EU Internal Security Strategy;
- Project HARMONY;
- The Council Decision regarding Europol;
- Europol external relations strategy, its cooperation agreements and their practical application to daily work;
- Europol Operations Department – structure and working arrangements;
- The role of ENU, ELO, information flows, Siena handling codes and data protection;
- Analysis Work Files, the current state of play and future developments;
- Europol’s Products and Services:
- Strategic and Operational Support
- Cooperation platforms FCIC/CARIN, Check the WEB, EU Bomb Data Systems (EBDS)
- Practical examples of illegal immigration and forced labour;
- Choosing a channel – the availability of communication tools:
- legal basis,
- differences and advantages,
- access to databases (Interpol, SIS, Europol IS);
- Regional cooperation platforms – Baltic Sea Task Force on Organised Crime,
- Europol’s role in protection of human rights.
