COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION of the EUROPEAN CRIME PREVENTION NETWORK 2012-2022
Date: 2023-06-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, European security, area of freedom, security and justice, exchange of information, fight against crime, organised crime

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 2.6.2023  SWD(2023) 202 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  of the  EUROPEAN CRIME PREVENTION NETWORK 2012-2022 {SWD(2023) 201 final}  
 
 
Organised crime is a real and increasing threat to our societies, democracies and economies. 
As organised criminal groups look to sustain and expand their activities, they take advantage 
of  their  position  to  recruit  their  members  and  leaders  of  tomorrow.  Individuals  raised  in 
criminal  environments  and  in  socio-economically  deprived  areas  are  most  vulnerable  to 
recruitment for criminal activities. Most activities within the criminal justice system, such as 
investigations,  apprehensions,  and  sanctions  are  carried  out  after  the  crime  has  been 
committed.  However,  in  order  to  prevent  young  people  from  joining  a  life  of  violence  and 
crime, and to raise the resilience of society, it is paramount to invest in crime prevention 
policies and tools.  

A multidisciplinary and inter-agency approach to crime prevention can contribute to reducing 
the likelihood of criminal activity, by raising awareness among potential victims, or providing 
support to vulnerable individuals and communities to reduce the risk of falling into a criminal 
lifestyle.  Crime  prevention  involves  a  wide  range  of  stakeholders,  including  schools, 
families,  the  community,  the  social  welfare  sector,  civil  society  and  the  private  sector;  and 
their cooperation and partnerships  are of vital  importance.  Therefore, as laid down in  the 
Organised Crime Strategy1, the Commission aims to enhance the exchange of knowledge and 
best  practices  on  crime  prevention  through  the  European  Crime  Prevention  Network 
(hereafter referred to as EUCPN or the Network). 

The EUCPN, set up in 2001, with legal basis Council Decision 2009/902/JHA is a Network 
funded by the European Commission and Member States.2 The Network aims at developing a 
platform  for  the  exchange  of  knowledge  and  best  practices  in  the  field  of  crime 
prevention, with the objective to reduce or otherwise contribute to reducing crime and 
citizens' feeling of insecurity. The Network supports tangible crime prevention activities and 
contributes to formulating EU policy and strategy on crime prevention. The EUCPN was set 
up  to  be  a  point  of  reference  for  its  target  groups:  practitioners  and  policymakers  at  EU, 
national and local level.  

10  years  since  its  last  evaluation  in  20123,  EU  and  national  policies  to  counter  crime  have 
undergone significant developments. Crime prevention has been fully recognized at the EU 
level  to  be  an  essential  component  of  an  effective  strategy  to  tackle  crime.  The  preventive 
dimension  of  crime  has  been  included  in  several  EU  policies,  from  drugs,  to  trafficking  in 
human  beings,  radicalisation  and  child  sexual  abuse.  Furthermore,  the  network  underwent 
important changes. The EUCPN has aligned its crime prevention activities with the priorities 
of  the  European  Multidisciplinary  Platform  against  Criminal  Threats  (EMPACT),  the 
Network’s Secretariat  was  strengthened  from 2 to  7 full-time members,  and the Network’s 

1 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and 
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the EU Strategy to tackle Organised Crime 2021-2025, 
COM/2021/170 final 
2 Formerly funded by the Prevention of and Fight against Crime (ISEC) 2007-2013 programme, the EUCPN now 
relies on 2-year direct grants from the Internal Security Fund Police. Current Grant no. is 101056705 of call 
ISFP-2020-AG-IBA-EUCPN. EUR 2,105,262.45 (1 July 2022- 30 June 2024) of which 5% co-financed by Member 
States. 
3 2012 Evaluation of the EUCPN, COM(2012) 717 final. 

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budget was increased up to EUR 2 million over two  years.4 These developments call for a 
new evaluation and an assessment of the implementation of recommendations in 2012.  

This  staff working document (SWD) presents  the findings of the evaluation  of the  EUCPN 
for  the  period  2012  -  2022.  In  line  with  the  Better  Regulation  guidelines,  the  Commission 
assesses  the  effectiveness,  efficiency,  coherence,  EU  added  value  and  relevance  of  the 
Network. The findings will inform about the Network’s achievements since the last evaluation 
and provide the evidence to address weaknesses. With the support of an external contractor, 
the Commission conducted an evaluation of the EUCPN between March 2019 and December 
2020. Developments after the completion date of the external study have been included in this 
evaluation. The descriptions of the most recent developments are based on fact finding by the 
Commission, based on open sources and interviews and contacts with the EUCPN Secretariat 
and the National Representatives.  

Key findings 

The  EUCPN  has  been  moderately  effective  in  reaching  its  objectives  and  achieving  the 
expected results in supporting the development of knowledge and exchange of best practices 
on  crime  prevention.  The  Secretariat  has  increased  its  efforts  to  facilitate  cooperation  and 
exchanges  among  practitioners  and  policymakers  at  the  EU,  national  and  local  level. 
Furthermore,  the  Network  has  considerably  developed  its  written  output  and  increased  its 
focus  on  research.  Necessary  steps  have  been  made  by  the  Secretariat  to  increase  the 
Network’s visibility, with the renewal of the website and its active presence on social media 
(LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter). The Network has aligned its activities with EU priorities, built 
relationships  with  relevant  EU  agencies  such  as  EUROPOL  and  CEPOL,  and  worked  on 
involving  and  embedding  the  preventive  dimension  within  the  EU,  in  particular  through  its 
involvement  in  EMPACT  as  coordinator  of  Common  Horizontal  Strategic  Goal  7  on  crime 
prevention.  

However, there are several factors that prevent the Network from reaching its full 
potential.  Firstly,  outreach  to  its  target  groups,  mainly  at  local  level,  stays  behind 
expectations, as the network and its output is not sufficiently visible due to a lack of effective 
dissemination  and  tailoring  to  specific  contexts.  A  second  important  factor  hampering 
effectiveness is the stakeholder’s lack of involvement and lack of structured feedback. Further 
efforts  are  also  needed  to  increase  synergies  between  the  Network’s  activities  and  other 
preventive initiatives at EU level. 

In spite of the limitations to data collection which influenced the study’s ability to assess the 
Network’s  cost  effectiveness,  stakeholder  surveys  revealed  that  the  EUCPN  is  an  efficient 
initiative  as  it  provides  direct  and  indirect  value  to  its  target  groups  with  relatively  modest 
funding. However, the EUCPN faces operational inefficiencies, due to the limited resources 
available  to  enable  National  Representatives  to  fulfil  their  tasks.  Due  to  its  organisational 
structure, the EUCPN faces administrative obstacles when aiming to comply with both the EU 

4 Grant no. 101056705 of call ISFP-2020-AG-IBA-EUCPN. Current grant amount is EUR 2,105,262.45 (1 July 
2022- 30 June 2024) of which 5% co-financed by Member States. 

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and the Belgian internal financial procedures. Moreover, even though the distribution of tasks 
is clear, the active involvement of the National Representatives and Contact Points is limited, 
due  to  a  lack  of  capacity  and  prioritisation,  and  the  high  turnover  among  National 
Representatives leads to a lack of continuity and experience to draw from.  

Regarding  coherence,  the  Network  is  sufficiently  internally  coherent,  its  objectives  and 
actions are aligned to the objectives of the Council Decision. Regarding coherence vis-à-vis 
other  initiatives,  the  Network’s  objectives  are  in  line  with  the  broader  EU  crime  prevention 
policy objectives. However, both its involvement in EMPACT and cooperation with other 
actors are not used to its full potential yet. The development of prevention policies in the 
EU requires the EUCPN to increase its interaction with EU policymakers and follow closely 
EU  initiatives  set  out  in  the  different  strategies  and  action  plans  as  well  as  in  EU  funded 
projects. 

The  EUCPN  provides  EU  added  value  since  it  offers  access  to  knowledge  on  crime 
prevention to policy makers and practitioners across the EU and facilitates exchanges of best 
practices  between  policymakers  and  practitioners  from  different  EU  Member  States. 
However,  EU  added  value  differs  per  target  group.  Since  the  Network  is  less  visible  at  the 
local level due to a lack of adequate dissemination, EU added value is lower for practitioners 
and policymakers at this level. Furthermore, not every Member State has the same culture of 
crime prevention, so EU added value is higher for Member States with less developed crime 
prevention policies.  

The objectives of the Council Decision are still  relevant to address EU needs regarding the 
development  and implementation  of effective crime prevention policies  and measures while 
providing  enough  flexibility  to  adapt  to  changing  circumstances.  Still,  when  deciding  on 
priorities and relevant  actions, the Network does not sufficiently take into account activities 
conducted  by  other  EU  networks,  initiatives  or  projects  playing  a  role  in  preventing 
criminality. This diminishes opportunities to complement and support other initiatives and in 
the  worst  case,  leads  to  duplication  of  efforts.  In  addition,  the  Network  does  not 
systematically  ask  for  input  and  collect  feedback  from  its  target  groups,  to  ensure  that  its 
activities and products are relevant to all. 

Overall,  the  EUCPN  has  progressed  towards  meeting  its  objectives,  but  stayed  behind 
expectations in several areas. Systemic issues persist that affect the overall performance of the 
network,  notably  related  to  the  involvement  of  the  National  Representatives,  as  well  as 
regarding the EUCPN’s engagement with its intended audience, to ensure that its products are 
targeted and valued.   

Lessons Learned 

While  the  Network  is  expected  to  deliver  in  many  strands  of  work  and  activities,  given  the 
limited resources and other obstacles identified in this evaluation, the Network needs to better 
structure its priorities and activities to increase the impact and visibility and generate effective 

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results. A starting point should be an active involvement of the National  Representatives  as 
core elements of the Network as well as other forms of cooperation with relevant stakeholders 
at  European,  national  and  local  level.  The  design  of  such  activities  should  be  part  of  the 
Multi-Annual  Strategy,  setting  concrete  actions  as  laid  down  in  the  Annual  Work 
Programmes. Their implementation needs to be regularly monitored coupled with corrective 
measures where necessary. 

Existing dissemination and communication channels have proven to be insufficient and need 
to be strengthened. Measures to address this could include: 

  Commitments to implement and support actions as outlined in the Multi-Annual Strategy 
and  Annual  Work  Programme,  for  instance,  through  the  appointment  of  National 
Representatives to lead specific actions to ensure leadership and accountability;  

  Measures allowing National representatives to fulfil their role, including guidance by the 
EUCPN  Secretariat  on  the  intended  target  audience  of  EUCPN  deliverables,  Member 
States  making  available  the  necessary  resources  and  the  development  of  an  introduction 
programme for National Representatives and Contact Points. 

The  Network  can  benefit  from  its  own  assessment  of  the  needs,  expectations  as  well  as 
feedback channels on the usefulness and added value of EUCPN deliverables. It is therefore 
suggested that the EUCPN:  

  Routinely  maps  Member  States’  priorities  and  needs,  with  a  structured  approach  that 
could foresee the inclusion of up-to date information regarding national crime prevention 
strategies and approaches to be available for consultation, on the EUCPN website; 

  Provides for opportunities for feedback from National Representatives and Contact Points 
on their use of EUCPN materials and services, to ensure that the Network meets the needs 
of its members; 

  Collects  and  processes  relevant  feedback  from  target  groups  to  develop  better-tailored 

products and services.  

The  EUCPN  should  further  deepen  the  evidence  base  for  crime  prevention  methods  and 
facilitate the implementation of crime prevention measures at local level while staying up 
to date and being responsive to new developments. This can be achieved in different ways, 
including through: 
  Cooperation with  other relevant  organisations  and  EU initiatives, projects  and networks, 
to combine insights and create synergies when developing and disseminating knowledge 
and best practices; 

  Enhanced  cooperation  with  relevant  networks  or  crime  prevention  councils  at  national 

level, to improve the EUCPN’s outreach to target groups; 

  An increased focus on responding to new developments and converting research products 
into practical knowledge and tools, geared towards practitioners’ needs, both in terms of 
content and form (including making available budget for translations). 

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The  Network’s  contribution  to  the  various  aspects  of  crime  prevention  at  the  EU  level 
could be improved by: 

  Deepening  working  relationships  within  EMPACT,  notably  with  EMPACT  drivers  and 
EU agencies to broaden its active contribution to embedding crime prevention measures in 
operational actions; 

  Establishing closer links between the National Representatives and the National EMPACT 
coordinators, to ensure coherence in the Network’s contribution of EMPACT and enhance 
awareness of EMPACT procedures and working methods; 

  Foster  its  cooperation  with  the  European  Commission,  to  ensure  alignment  with  current 

and future EU policies, strategies, networks and projects.  

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