Council Decision of 22 December 2000 establishing a European Police College (CEPOL)
Date: 2000-12-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Community body, EU police cooperation, fight against crime, police

30.12.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 336/1

(Acts adopted pursuant to Title VI of the Treaty on European Union)

COUNCIL DECISION

of 22 December 2000

establishing a European Police College (CEPOL)

(2000/820/JHA)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in partic-
ular Article 30(1)(c) and Article 34(2)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the initiative of the Portuguese Republic (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

(6)

(7)

CEPOL should carry out its tasks by progressive stages in
the light of the objectives set out in the annual work
programmes and with due regard for available resources.

It is necessary that this Decision be reviewed after a
three-year period in order to decide on an extension of
CEPOL's tasks, and on modifications to its institutional
structure,

Whereas:

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

At its meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999,
the European Council agreed that a European Police
College, hereinafter referred to as ‘CEPOL’, should be
established to train senior officers of police forces, such
forces being understood to mean law enforcement offi-
the Presidency
cials as referred to in point 47 of
conclusions.

The European Council in Tampere agreed that CEPOL
should initially consist of a network of existing national
training institutes, without precluding the establishment
of a permanent institution at a later stage.

There already exist national, European and international
organisations and bodies active in the area of police
training, on whose cooperation CEPOL should be able to
rely in carrying out its tasks.

It is desirable to develop quickly a relationship between
CEPOL and national
training institutes in applicant
countries with which the European Union is conducting
accession negotiations as well as those in Iceland and
Norway, so that
these institutes can have access to
CEPOL activities.

The European Union has been active in this field,
in
particular by adopting and implementing programmes
the Treaty, such as the common
under Title VI of
the exchange and training of, and
programme for
cooperation between,
authorities
(OISIN) (3) and the programme for exchanges, training
and cooperation for persons responsible for action to
combat organised crime (Falcone) (4).

law enforcement

(1) OJ C 206, 19.7.2000, p. 3.
(2) Opinion delivered on 17 November 2000 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(3) OJ L 7, 10.1.1997, p. 5.
(4) OJ L 99, 31.3.1998, p. 8.

TITLE I

Organisation

Article 1

1.

A European Police College (CEPOL) is hereby established.

2. Without prejudice to the future developments recom-
mended in Article 9, CEPOL shall be set up as a network, by
bringing together the national training institutes for senior
police officers in the Member States, which shall cooperate
closely to that end.

CEPOL's task shall be to implement the programmes and

3.
initiatives decided upon by the governing board.

Article 2

1.
The directors of the national training institutes for senior
police officers shall form CEPOL's governing board. Where
there are several directors from a single Member State, they
shall together form a delegation.

2.
The governing board shall be chaired by the director of a
national training institute of the Member State holding the
the European Union. The
Presidency of
governing board shall meet at least once per Presidency. It shall
establish its rules of procedure by unanimous decision.

the Council of

Each delegation shall have one vote on the governing

3.
board.

Representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council of the
European Union, the Commission and Europol shall be invited
to attend meetings as non-voting observers. Members of the
governing board may be accompanied by experts.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

30.12.2000

Article 3

(b) fees for external contributors;

The governing board shall decide on the

annual
1.
continuing-education programme
type,
number and length of training measures to be implemented). It
shall adopt additional programmes and initiatives, where
appropriate.

(teaching content,

The governing board shall establish the annual report on

2.
CEPOL's activities.

3.
The governing board's decisions referred to in paragraphs
1 and 2 shall be adopted unanimously and then passed on to
the Council, which shall take note of them and endorse them.
Due account shall be taken by the governing board of any
comment made by the Council.

The annual report on CEPOL's activities shall also be forwarded
and the Commission for
to the European Parliament
information.

Article 4

1.
The governing board shall set up a permanent secretariat
to assist CEPOL with the administrative tasks necessary for it to
function and implement the annual programme and, where
appropriate, the additional programmes and initiatives. The
permanent secretariat may be set up within one of the national
police academies. The Council shall decide on the location of
the permanent secretariat's seat.

The secretariat shall be headed by an administrative
2.
director appointed by the governing board for a three-year
term.

All decisions of

3.
secretariat shall be taken unanimously.

the governing board concerning the

Article 5

CEPOL's budget shall be managed by the secretariat on

1.
the basis of a financial regulation.

The costs of implementing the measures in the annual
2.
programme referred to in Article 3, together with the adminis-
trative costs of CEPOL, shall be borne jointly by the Member
States. To that end, the annual contribution from each Member
State shall be established on the basis of the gross national
product (GNP) according to the scale used for determining the
GNP element in own resources for financing the general budget
of the European Union. Each year the GNP of the previous year
shall be taken as the reference basis for each Member State.

3.
CEPOL's financial regulation and annual budget shall be
drawn up by the governing board acting unanimously, and
submitted for approval to the Governments of the Member
States, meeting within the Council.

(c) travelling expenses of governing board members attending
board meetings, at the rate of two members per Member
State;

(d) general operating costs of the secretariat, except for the

remuneration of its members;

(e) costs for any other initiative adopted by the governing
board or taken by the administrative director in accordance
with the financial regulation;

(f) reimbursement, in proportion to Member States' contribu-
tions, of the costs incurred by the Member State(s) paying
the remuneration of the secretariat's members.

submit

5. Without prejudice to requests by Member States and
acting on instructions from the governing board, the secretariat
to the Commission training projects or
may
lie within the sphere of
programmes for cofinancing that
competence of budgetary programmes administered by the
Commission.

TITLE II

Objectives and tasks

Article 6

The aim of CEPOL shall be to help train the senior police
1.
officers of
the Member States by optimising cooperation
between CEPOL's various component institutes. It shall support
and develop a European approach to the main problems facing
Member States in the fight against crime, crime prevention, and
the maintenance of
in
law and order and public security,
particular the cross-border dimensions of those problems.

2.

CEPOL's objectives shall be as follows:

(a) to increase knowledge of the national police systems and
structures of other Member States, of Europol and of cross-
border police cooperation within the European Union;

(b) to strengthen knowledge of international

in
particular those which already exist at European Union
level

in the field of cooperation on combating crime;

instruments,

(c) to provide appropriate training with regard to respect for
reference to the

democratic safeguards with particular
rights of defence;

(d) to encourage cooperation between CEPOL and other police

training institutes.

3.
CEPOL shall also offer its infrastructure to senior police
officers of applicant countries with which the European Union
is conducting accession negotiations as well as those of Iceland
and Norway.

Article 7

Expenditure on the following shall be borne by the

4.
budget of CEPOL:

In order to achieve those objectives, CEPOL may, in particular,
undertake the following actions:

(a) preparation, implementation and assessment of the annual

(a) provide training sessions, based on common standards, for

programme;

senior police officers;

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(b) contribute to the preparation of harmonised programmes
for the training of middle-ranking police officers, middle-
ranking police officers in the field and police officers in the
field with regard to cross-border cooperation between
police forces in Europe, and help set up appropriate
advanced training programmes;

(c) provide specialist training for police officers playing a key
role in combating cross-border crime, with a particular
focus on organised crime;

(d) develop and provide training for trainers;

(e) disseminate best practice and research findings;

(f) develop and provide training to prepare police forces of the
European Union for participation in non-military crisis
management;

(g) develop and provide training for police authorities from the
States applying for membership of the European Union,
including training for police officers with a key role;

(h) facilitate relevant exchanges and secondments of police

officers in the context of training;

(i) develop an electronic network to provide back-up for
CEPOL in the performance of its duties, ensuring that the
necessary security measures are put in place;

(j) enable the senior police officers of the Member States to

acquire relevant language skills.

CEPOL may cooperate with the national police training insti-
tutes of non-member States of the European Union. In partic-
ular, it shall establish relations with the national institutes of
applicant countries with which the European Union is
conducting accession negotiations as well as those of Iceland
and Norway.

CEPOL shall also cooperate with relevant training bodies in
Europe, such as the Nordic Baltic Police Academy (NBPA) and
the Mitteleuropäische Polizeiakademie (MEPA).

Article 9

At the latest during the third year after this Decision takes
effect, the governing board shall submit to the Council a report
on the operation and future of the network, in accordance with
the conclusions of the Tampere European Council.

Article 10

This Decision shall take effect on the day following that of its
adoption by the Council.

It shall apply from 1 January 2001.

TITLE III

Other provisions

Article 8

CEPOL shall consider on a case-by-case basis the possibility of
admitting officials of the European Institutions and other Euro-
pean Union bodies.

Done at Brussels, 22 December 2000.

For the Council

The President

C. PIERRET