Initiative of the French Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden with a view to the adoption of a Council Decision setting up a European crime prevention network

(2000/C 362/13)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union and in particular Article 34(2)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the initiative of the French Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) The Vienna Action Plan called for crime prevention measures to be drawn up in the five years following the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty.

(2) The Tampere European Council of 15 and 16 October 1999 concluded that there was a need to develop crime prevention measures, to exchange best practices and to strengthen the network of competent national authorities for crime prevention, as well as cooperation between national organisations specialising in this field, specifying that this cooperation could have as its chief priorities juvenile, urban and drug-related crime. To this end, a study of the possibility of a programme financed by the Community was called for.

(3) Several significant seminars and conferences on crime prevention, most notably those held in Stockholm in 1996, in Noordwijk in 1997, in London in 1998 and in the Algarve in 2000 called for the establishment of a network within the European Union to develop cooperation on crime prevention. This High Level Conference in the Algarve also highlighted the need for a multidisciplinary, joint approach to crime prevention.

(4) Society as a whole must be involved in the development of a partnership between national, local and regional public authorities, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and citizens. The causes of crime are multiple and must therefore be dealt with by measures at different levels, by different groups in society, in partnership with the players involved who have different powers and experience, including civil society.

(5) Since the majority of the crimes of which citizens of the European Union are victims are committed in urban areas, urban policies linked with crime prevention must also be taken into consideration,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

A European Crime Prevention Network, hereinafter referred to as "the Network" is hereby set up.

The Network shall have a Governing Board and a General Secretariat.

Article 2

1. The Network shall consist of contact points designated by each Member State.

The contact points, of which the number per Member State shall not exceed three, shall represent, at the least, the national authorities competent for crime prevention in its many aspects on the one hand and researchers or academics specialising in this field on the other. Others involved in the field, particularly non-governmental organisations, local authorities and the private sector may also be represented.

The Commission shall also designate a contact point. A Europol contact point shall participate in the Network for the aspects which concern it.

2. Each Member State shall ensure that its contact points have sufficient knowledge of at least one other official language of the Union to enable them to communicate with the contact points in the other Member States.

Article 3

1. The Network shall contribute to developing the varied aspects of crime prevention at Union level and shall support crime prevention activities at local and national level.

2. In particular, the Network shall:

(a) report to the Council on its activities each year, through the competent working bodies, and state the areas for priority action in its work programme for the following year. This report shall be forwarded to the European Parliament. Although it will cover all types of criminality, the Network will pay particular attention to the fields of juvenile, urban and drug-related crime;

(b) be available to the Council and to the Commission to assist them at their request with any question relating to crime prevention, and particularly to take account of preventive aspects of legislative acts, decisions and other instruments and to assist the Council and the Commission to identify effective strategies for crime prevention, particularly in connection with the implementation of the Community programme relating to crime prevention;

(c) facilitate cooperation, contacts and exchanges of information and experience between Member States and between national organisations, as well as between Member States and the Commission, other constituent entities of the Council and other groups of experts and networks specialising in crime prevention matters;

(d) collect and analyse information on existing crime prevention activities, the evaluation thereof and the analysis of best practices, and collect and analyse existing data on criminality and on its development in the Member States, in order to contribute to consideration of future national and European decisions. The Network shall also assist the Council and the Member States in replying to questionnaires on crime and crime prevention;

(e) contribute to identifying and developing the main areas for research, training and evaluation in the crime prevention field;

(f) organise conferences, seminars, meetings and other activities designed to promote consideration of these specific matters, and to disseminate the results thereof;

(g) organise the annual award of the European Crime Prevention Prize.

Article 4

To accomplish its tasks, the Network shall:

(a) favour a multidisciplinary approach and take urban policies connected with crime prevention into consideration;

(b) be in close contact with crime prevention bodies, as well as research institutions and non-governmental organisations in the Member States;

(c) set up and operate a website, containing its regular reports and any other useful information, particularly a compendium of best practices;

(d) endeavour to use and promote the results of projects funded through Community programmes.

Article 5

1. The Network shall hold its first meeting on ...(1)

2. It shall meet at least once every six months on the invitation of the Presidency of the Council at that time. Other meetings may be called at the request of the Council or Commission.

3. The Governing Board of the Network shall consist of the representatives of the Member States who have been designated as contact points from the national authorities.

It shall be chaired by the representative of the Member State which is holding the Presidency of the European Union at the time.

It shall meet at least once each Presidency. It shall draw up its Rules of Procedure, to be adopted by unanimity.

4. The General Secretariat for the Network shall be provided by the Commission.

5. The Governing Board shall decide the Network's annual programme and shall inform the Council and Commission thereof. It shall draw up the annual report on the activities of the Network. The report shall be forwarded to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. The Governing Board's decisions shall be adopted by unanimity.

6. The Network shall be financed from the general budget of the European Union.

Article 6

The Council shall evaluate the activities of the Network in the two years following the adoption of this Decision.

Article 7

This Decision shall take effect on the day of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, ...

For the Council

The President

...

(1) Three months after the adoption of this Decision.