Information from the Commission - Sherlock Programme: Annual Programme for 1998
Date: 1998-02-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, identity document, police checks, vocational training

28.2.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  65/23

III

(Notices)

COMMISSION

SHERLOCK  PROGRAMME:  ANNUAL  PROGRAMME  FOR  1998

(98/C  65/08)

1.(cid:217)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(cid:216)288,  8.11.1996,  p.  7).  It
applies  to  the  15  Member  States  of  the  European  Union
and  also  contains  provision  for  non(cid:220)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:

-(cid:217)training  for  officials  responsible  for  carrying  out
instructors,  and
checks,  especially 
training 
high(cid:220)level  training  for  specialists;  basic  training  for
officials  will  remain  the  responsibility  of  the  Member
States;

for 

-(cid:217)exchanges  of  officials  between  Member  States,  long
for  practical,
the  methods,

enough 
on(cid:220)the(cid:220)spot 
procedures  and  techniques  used;

familiarisation  with 

fortnight) 

than  a 

(more 

-(cid:217)research  into  forged  documents,  primarily  for  the
purpose  of  producing  teaching  aids  (control  manuals
information  facilities  (document  exchange
etc.)  or 
"technical’
systems),  excluding  any  form  of  more 
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 
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.

States.  Non(cid:220)member 

2.(cid:217)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(cid:220)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:

C  65/24

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

28.2.98

Area  of  operation  (a)

-(cid:217)Training:  This  remains  a  high(cid:220)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 
latest
developments  in  areas  relating  to  false  documents.

instil  familiarity  with  the 

Area  of  operation  (b)

-(cid:217)Topical  issues:  Here  it  is  a  matter  of  responding  to
needs  as  they  arise,  on  specific  questions  which
confront 
influxes  of
immigrants,  the  emergence  of  new  ways  of  falsifying
documents,  unfamiliar  new  practices,  new  technology
and  so  on).

the  Member  States 

(mass 

Area  of  operation  (c)

-(cid:217)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
types  of
their  enthusiasm  with  other 
encourage 
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 
falling
within  the  across(cid:220)the(cid:220)board  Phare  programme  (JHA).

those 

Area  of  operation  (d)

-(cid:217)Evaluation:  This 

for 

is  a  priority  area 

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)

-(cid:217)Other 

under 

eligible  measures 

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 

The  estimated  budgets  for  meeting  these  priorities  are  as
follows:

(in  ecus)

Area  of  operation

Budget  estimate

(a)(cid:217)Training

(b) Topical  issues

(c) Cooperation  with  applicant  countries

(d) Evaluation

(e) Other  eligible  measures

300(cid:216)000

300(cid:216)000

250(cid:216)000

75(cid:216)000

75(cid:216)000

Total(cid:217)

1(cid:216)000(cid:216)000

3.(cid:217)Potentially 
projects

interested  parties  and 

submission  of

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. 
staff
training.  We  should  not  rule  other  applicants  out,
however,  particularly  where  they  are  working  in  areas
related  to  the  objectives  of  the  programme.

those  responsible 

for 

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(cid:220)General,
Justice  and  Home  Affairs  Task  Force  Unit  1,
Rue  de  la  Loi/Wetstraat  200,  Room  N(cid:220)9  5/27A,
B(cid:220)1049  Brussels;
Tel:  (32(cid:220)2)  296(cid:216)67(cid:216)46,
fax:  (32(cid:220)2)  296(cid:216)59(cid:216)97.