PURPOSE: to establish the seat of CEPOL in Budapest (HU).
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) No 543/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Decision 2005/681/JHA establishing the European Police College (CEPOL).
BACKGROUND: pursuant to Article 4 of Council Decision 2005/681/JHA, CEPOL has its seat in Bramshill, United Kingdom.
By letters dated 12 December 2012 and 8 February 2013, the United Kingdom informed CEPOL that it had unilaterally decided that it no longer wished to host the seat on its territory. In addition to hosting CEPOL, Bramshill also hosts a national police training site of the National Policing Improvement Agency, which the United Kingdom had decided to replace by a new College of Policing to be located elsewhere. The United Kingdom had therefore decided to close the national police training site at Bramshill and to sell the site, indicating that the related costs were high and that no alternative business model to run the site had emerged.
In the light of the obligation of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) of sincere cooperation, and in particular the obligations deriving from Article 4 TEU, the Union and its Member States should mutually assist each other in maintaining CEPOL's operational activities. To that end, the United Kingdom in particular is required to ensure a smooth transition of CEPOL to its new location, without jeopardising the regular budget of CEPOL.
In view of the common accord reached on 8 October 2013 by the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, and of the need to maintain CEPOL's status as a separate Union agency, arrangements should be made according to which CEPOL will be hosted in Budapest as soon as it leaves Bramshill.
This agreement should be incorporated in Council Decision 2005/681/JHA
CONTENT: under this Regulation, it is provided to amend Article 4 of Council Decision 2005/681/JHA and to establish the new seat of CEPOL in Budapest, Hungary.
Review: by 30 November 2015, the Commission shall submit a report on the effectiveness of this Decision, taking into account the need to ensure CEPOL's status as a separate Union agency. That report shall, if appropriate, be accompanied by a legislative proposal to amend this Decision following a thorough cost-benefit analysis and impact assessment.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 29.05.2014. The Regulation shall apply from 1 September 2014.