CEPOL HoOPS participates in Next Generation EU - Law Enforcement forum

The CEPOL Head of Operations, Ms Mailis Pukonen represented the agency on 21 September in the Next Generation EU – Law Enforcement Forum in Rome. This high-level event was co-organised by Europol and the Italian Ministry of Interior in the context of the allocation of the Recovery Fund – Next Generation Europe (NGEU), a new instrument designed by the European Commission to stimulate economic and social recovery after COVID-19.

The aim of the forum was to share best practises and discuss potential threats of illegal activities affecting the recovery funds, in order to ensure that all necessary preventive measures are in place. The overall sentiment is that, for the large scale of funds provided for by the EU to successfully reach and fulfil their intended destination and objectives, EU Member States and relevant EU bodies must step up their efforts for a timely exchange of information, thus identifying common tools (indicators, patterns and early warnings) and achieving a consistent approach throughout the EU.

Participating as a speaker in the discussion on the role of EU Bodies in the prevention of infiltration of criminal networks in the implementation of NGEU, Ms Pukonen stressed the importance of law enforcement training and education. ‘CEPOL will continue to contribute to the successful implementation of the Next Generation EU, by offering law enforcement officials training opportunities in relevant topics’, she noted. ‘Additionally, through our webinars, we are creating awareness regarding the newest modus operandi and the use of new technologies by the criminal networks for money laundering of crime proceeds, e.g. crypto-currencies, virtual banking services, wire transfers’.

The CEPOL Head of Operations also underlined the Agency’s preparedness to continuously adapt its training offer in order to respond effectively to current and future trends, as was the case last year during the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis: ‘CEPOL adapted the training curricula and continued to deliver training activities for law enforcement all over Europe in an online format. A series of specific COVID-19-related webinars were rapidly designed and implemented, attracting great attention and bringing along high satisfaction rates among our target audiences”, she highlighted.