SHERLOCK PROGRAMME: ANNUAL PROGRAMME FOR 1998 (98/C 65/08)

1. The broad outlines of the programme

On 29 October 1996 the Council adopted the Sherlock programme, a programme of training, exchanges and cooperation in the field of identity documents (Joint Action 96/637/JHA - OJ L 288, 8.11.1996, p. 7). It applies to the 15 Member States of the European Union and also contains provision for non-member countries to be associated where that meets the objectives of the programme.

The programme covers the period from 1996 to 2000 and the financial reference amount for implementing it is ECU 5 million.

The general objective of the programme is to make the action taken to combat the forging or falsifying of identity documents more effective, and to make such documents easier to detect, by stepping up cooperation between government departments in the Member States.

To achieve this, the Sherlock programme is to set up operations in the following areas:

- training for officials responsible for carrying out checks, especially training for instructors, and high-level training for specialists; basic training for officials will remain the responsibility of the Member States;

- exchanges of officials between Member States, long enough (more than a fortnight) for practical, on-the-spot familiarisation with the methods, procedures and techniques used;

- research into forged documents, primarily for the purpose of producing teaching aids (control manuals etc.) or information facilities (document exchange systems), excluding any form of more 'technical` research into the actual production of documents (chemical aspects or in electronic or physical form etc.).

The projects are selected by a Management Committee on which all the Member States are represented; it is chaired by the Commission. To qualify for funding, projects must be of European interest and involve at least three Member States. Non-member countries, particularly those which have applied to join the Union, may be associated with such projects provided that would be useful for the purposes of the programme.

2. Programme structure, areas of operation in 1998 and budgets

The aims of the Sherlock programme remain specific, in that they relate to a very sensitive area and, more often than not, require a technical approach and measures to protect confidentiality, so that the programme is left primarily up to government departments in the Member States and their specialist departments. However, past experience and the lessons drawn from implementing the projects selected under the 1996 and 1997 programme show that the programme now needs to be fine-tuned, with a more specialised approach to the priority areas and some degree of assessment incorporated.

A number of matters have been explored at previous seminars, and areas such as exchanges of officials are now covered by projects which go beyond the annual framework and are a way of responding satisfactorily to the needs which officials from the Member States have expressed.

Without abandoning this overall approach completely, we think it would be advisable not to attach such high priority to certain operations as at the start of the programme. Meanwhile there are other areas which have still not been properly explored, and more space clearly needs to be devoted to the topical questions confronting the Member States, to which the facilities the programme offers enable rapid and specific answers to be given. Lastly - and this is a feature which all the programmes managed by the Commission share - increasing space has to be earmarked for evaluating the exercises carried out as part of the programme.

With these thoughts in mind, and from our observation of the situation in the various areas concerned and of the work done by the specific groups, we propose that the 1998 programme address itself to the following areas of operation, with an estimated overall budget of ECU 1 million:

Area of operation (a)

- Training: This remains a high-priority area under the joint action. The trend must be towards greater specialisation. One component should address itself to disseminating training and information, so that the teaching aids devised during previous operations can be overhauled to instil familiarity with the latest developments in areas relating to false documents.

Area of operation (b)

- Topical issues: Here it is a matter of responding to needs as they arise, on specific questions which confront the Member States (mass influxes of immigrants, the emergence of new ways of falsifying documents, unfamiliar new practices, new technology and so on).

Area of operation (c)

- Cooperation with countries applying for membership. These countries have displayed their interest in the scheme by consistently attending the various seminars with which they are associated in 1997. We could encourage their enthusiasm with other types of exercise (training and exchange of officials). Efforts will be made to make sure these complement other programmes under Title VI and other Community assistance programmes, particularly those falling within the across-the-board Phare programme (JHA).

Area of operation (d)

- Evaluation: This is a priority area for the Commission in managing the programmes for which it is responsible. The 1998 programme is the third budgetary year for the Sherlock programme, so evaluating it could be a useful exercise, to ensure that the measures taken match the specifications of the programme.

Area of operation (e)

- Other eligible measures under the Sherlock programme: This means measures falling within the general programme which are not actually a priority but could individually be of special interest to the Member States.

The estimated budgets for meeting these priorities are as follows:

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3. Potentially interested parties and submission of projects

Parties which might potentially be interested are, basically, government departments in the Member States responsible for checking identity documents, as well as other departments, e.g. those responsible for staff training. We should not rule other applicants out, however, particularly where they are working in areas related to the objectives of the programme.

The memorandum on the financing of Title VI, of which a revised version issued at the beginning of 1997 is available in all the official languages, gives the requisite details of the procedure for submitting projects and has attached to it a standard application form with precise instructions for drafting the financial statement. Those interested are advised to refer to that document when drawing up projects.

Projects for financing from the 1998 budget must reach the Commission by 31 March 1998 and should be sent to the following address:

Mr Wenceslas de Lobkowicz

Chairman of the Sherlock Programme Management Committee,

Mr Arnaud Cochet, Committee Secretary,

European Commission,

Secretariat-General,

Justice and Home Affairs Task Force Unit 1,

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200, Room N-9 5/27A,

B-1049 Brussels;

Tel: (32-2) 296 67 46,

fax: (32-2) 296 59 97.