Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe Secretariat

Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe On 5 May 2006 in Vienna, during the Austrian presidency of the EU, the Ministers of Interior from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, signed the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe. After ratification by all seven signatory states, the Convention entered into force on 10 October 2007. In addition, Bulgaria acceded to the Convention on 25 September 2008. The Convention envisages modern forms of cooperation among the Contracting Parties, such as joint threat analysis, liaison officers, hot pursuit, witness protection, cross-border surveillance, controlled delivery, undercover investigations to investigate crimes and to prevent criminal offences, transmission and comparison of DNA profiles and other identification material, technical measures for facilitating transbroder cooperation, border search operations, mixed analysis working groups, joint investigation teams, mixed patrols along the state border and cooperation in common centres. The full implementation of the Convention will thus help those signatory countries not members of the EU to accelerate their eventual accession. The main activities for the full implementation of the Convention are based on three pillars: 1. Decision-making process – Article 33 of the Convention stipulates that the Committee of Ministers decides on the implementation, interpretation and application of the Convention. Therefore, it is essential to establish an effective, thorough and clear decision making process of the Committee of Ministers, modeled on the practice of the European Union. The decision making bodies are: • The Expert Working Group, whose role is to observe the application and implementation of the Convention and to make recommendations to the Committee of Ministers. Three meeting have been held to date, the first taking place on 6 March 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia; the second on 29-30 June 2009 in Ljubljana, Slovenia; the third on 19 May 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria; the fourth on 16 September 2010 in Skopje, Macedonia and the fifth on 23-24 February 2011 in Celje, Slovenia. • The Committee of Ministers, whose role is to decide unanimously on the interpretation, implementation and application of the Convention. The first meeting of the Committee took place on 17 July 2008 in Vienna, Austria; the second meeting was convened on 17 November 2009 in Brussels, Belgium; the third on 21 May 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria; the fourth on 19 October 2010 in Brdo pri Kranju and the fifth on 28 February 2011 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 2. Implementation programme - With the support of international partners, Contracting parties are preparing the establishment of operational capabilities for full implementation of the Convention. 3. Operational cooperation - The Convention itself provides a toolbox for operational cooperation, which should in real life start as soon as possible. Conclusions of the Committee of Ministers The Committee of Ministers of the Contracting Parties have adopted several important decisions throughout their gatherings. At their first meeting on 17 July 2008 in Vienna, the Ministers decided to establish an Expert Working Group of their respective representatives to be the main coordinating body of the implementation process. Ministers decided to set up a Secretariat of the Convention, assigning its headquarters to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Given the vast scope of the Convention, a limited number of key recommendations for the start of the implementation process was adopted, including amending the national legislation of the Contracting Parties, concluding bilateral and multilateral implementation agreements, developing a Police Cooperation Convention Manual, establishing National Central Units and Common Centers as well as conducting harmonised training on Convention related matters, and finally, correcting two articles of the Convention. The second meeting of the Committee of Ministers, held on 17 November 2009 in Brussels, further strengthened the framework for an effective implementation process by adopting the Action Plan Concerning the Key Recommendations for the Implementation of the Convention, the Committee of Ministers Rules of Procedure, the Work Programme for the Secretariat for 2010 and the Communication Strategy for the Contracting Parties. Ministers also decided to launch a process of mutual evaluations among the Contracting Parties in the area of data protection by adopting the Rules of Procedure in the area of Data Protection. In addition, a decision was adopted on the rotation of the Convention chairmanship, rotating every 6 months following the alphabetical order of the names of the Contracting Parties. The third meeting of the Committee of Ministers was convened under the auspices of the Bulgarian Chairmanship-in-Office on 21 May 2010 in Sofia. Two working sessions took place at which Ministers reviewed the achievements with regard to the implementation process and held discussions on their visions of possible future steps towards a fully operational Convention as well as discussions on the Convention as a modern instrument for exchange of information and efficient police cooperation in the region. A Memorandum of Understanding regarding the Cooperation and Support for the Secretariat was signed by the Ministers of the Contracting Parties and the Director of DCAF, reiterating the full commitment of the Contracting Parties an effective implementation process, including the allocation of necessary financial and human resources. In addition, two other documents were adopted on the Strategy Paper regarding the conduct of harmonised training on Convention related matters and changing the term "standardised training" to "harmonised training" in order to avoid misunderstandings related to standardisation of the training and education institutions. The meeting also gave possibilities for bilateral meetings between the Ministers, enhancing bilateral and regional operational cooperation. The fourth meeting of the Committee of Ministers, organised under the auspices of the Macedonian Chairmanship-in-Office and co-organised by the Secretariat, was held on 19 October 2010 in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia. The Committee of Ministers highly valued the Roadmap for the implementation of the Convention as an important and useful strategic document and agreed on the content of the Roadmap, however, some of the Contracting Parties expressed that the proposed period 2011-2015 might be too ambitious for certain activities foreseen in the document. Therefore the Expert Working Group and Secretariat were authorised to harmonise the dynamics of implementing the Convention and redefine the Roadmap accordingly. The Committee of Ministers endorsed the report by the Expert Working Group and welcomed the decision of the Expert Working Group to establish a Thematic Working Group on Exchange of Information regarding Forged and Fake documents within the Convention, as well as welcomed the report by PCC SEE Secretariat and endorsed the Work Programme for PCC SEE Secretariat for 2011. The importance of data protection was reiterated and the Committee of Ministers urged all Contracting Parties to speed up the process of mutual evaluations in accordance with the Rules of Procedure in the area of Data Protection (CoM 03/09). The Committee of Ministers welcomed the intention of Austria and Slovenia to join the Convention as well as the measures undertaken in this respect. The priorities of the upcoming Moldovan Chairmanship of the Convention during the first half of 2011 were presented and the Committee of Ministers assessed the proposals as useful and consistent. The fifth meeting of the Committee of Ministers, convened under the auspices of the Moldovan Chairmanship-in-Office and co-organised by the Secretariat, took place on 28 February 2011 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The Ministers adopted the Decision on the Classification Level of the Police Cooperation Convention Manual (CoM 02/11), a document found to be a useful tool for police practitioners and for training and education purposes. Thus, they agreed that PCC Manual shall not be restricted, it shall be taken into account by the Contracting Parties when drafting their national guidelines and regulations regarding specific articles of PCC SEE, it shall be sent to the national authorities of the Contracting Parties which should be instructed to use the manual as the main tool when performing duties covered by PCC SEE and it shall be used for training purposes. Furthermore, the Ministers discussed the introduction of a post-visa liberalisation monitoring mechanism for the Western Balkan countries. PCC SEE Secretariat was invited by the European Commission to take part in this process, together with EUROPOL and FRONTEX. As a conclusion, the Ministers agreed that PCC SEE shall be used as a regional tool for supporting this monitoring mechanism as well as on the a proposal for concrete activities within PCC SEE, such as the establishment of a specialised working group to serve as a platform for strategic information exchange and coordination. Mr. Alexei Roibu, Moldovan Minister of Internal Affairs and Chair of the meeting, informed the participants that the republic of Moldova will send a letter to the Slovenian Minister of Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs to propose the Institute DCAF Ljubljana be granted the status of international organisation. This would enable the process of seconding representatives from the Contracting Parties and would have financial impacts as well. The Committee of Ministers also endorsed the report by the Expert Working Group, acknowledging the work of all experts involved, and welcomed the priorities of the current Moldovan Chairmanship-in-Office and the upcoming Montenegrin Chairmanship. Implementation programme/priorities International police cooperation requires an appropriate legal framework in order to be fully effective. The aim of the Convention is to adopt Schengen standards through the conclusion of a multilateral convention for the improvement of strategic police collaboration in the region. Since the beginning of the implementation process the Contracting Parties have been supported by Austria, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and DCAF , e.g. through organizing and funding meetings of working groups, conducting a needs-assessment and providing recommendations, offering legal advice (including the drafting of protocols), and assisting the Secretariat. All of these efforts should enable the Contracting Parties to increase their operational capabilities for effective cross-border cooperation. A full set of documents, either adopted or endorsed by the Committee of Ministers, facilitate the implementation process and regulate the tasks and roles of the key decision making bodies, namely being the: - Action Plan Concerning the Key Recommendations for the Implementation of the Convention, developed on the basis of the Conclusions of the first meeting of the Committee of Ministers; - Committee of Ministers Rules of Procedure, representing the basis of the decision making process; - Rules of Procedure in the Area of Data Protection, setting the conditions for an efficient exchange of information including personal data; . Work Programme of the Secretariat for 2010 and 2011, based on the Action Plan; - Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation and Support Regarding the Secretariat, including the role and tasks of the Secretariat, the cooperation between the Contracting Parties and the Secretariat, the support of the Contracting Parties to the functioning of the Secretariat as well as the organizational and operational modalities of the Secretariat; - Communication Strategy for the Contracting Parties, setting out the values, main objectives, target groups and key messages and outlining the communication channels and communication tools to be used with the aim of increasing the recognition level of the Convention. The Secretariat The Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe Secretariat, located on Dunajska 104 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, was established by the decision of the Committee of Ministers at its meeting on 17 July 2008 in Vienna. The Secretariat, hosted by DCAF Ljubljana, became operational on 1 September 2008. The work of the Secretariat will be executed by DCAF Ljubljana staff and secondees from Donor Countries and Contracting Parties. The allocation of necessary financial and human resources is envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation and Support Regarding the Secretariat, signed by the Ministers of the Contracting Parties and the Director of DCAF.

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