2008 discharge: European Police College CEPOL

PURPOSE: presentation of the final accounts of the European Police College (CEPOL) for the 2008 financial year.

CONTENT: this document sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the College’s budget for 2008. It indicates that the College’s final budget amounted to EUR 8.7 million in 2008 with the following allocations between budget titles:

• Title 1: Expenditure relating to persons working within the College: EUR 3 237 500
• Title 2: Buildings, equipment and miscellaneous expenditure: EUR 493 500
• Title 3: Operational expenditure: EUR 4 969 000.

As regards the staffing policy, the College, whose headquarters are in Bramshill (UK) officially had 22 members of staff and 2 national seconded national experts.

In 2008, CEPOL’s main activities consisted of:

• Courses and seminars:the College organised 87 courses and seminars. Activities increased on 2007 with 2 078 participants. The College Secretariat organised nine activities in support of the network. Two major conferences were organised in Paris under the aegis of the College. The College Annual Conference: ‘Crime, Police and Justice in the 21st Century’. The meeting of the General Directors of the Police, Customs and Security Services from the MEDA regions and the EU Member States, organised under the Euromed Police II project developed by the College.
• Cooperation: the College continued to formalise cooperation with key institutions. A cooperation agreement with Interpol was signed in December 2008. The College continued work on furthering agreements with Frontex and Eurojust. Agreements will be signed in 2009.
• European Dimension: the College conference ‘European Dimension -Enhancing Europe in Police Training’ took place in October 2008 in France.
• Electronic Network (e-Net): the implementation of the College’s e-Net was concluded.
• Common curricula: three ‘new’ common curricula were developed (civilian crisis management, drug trafficking and management of diversity). The revision of the common curriculum on counterterrorism was finalised.
• Evaluation: a new system for evaluating the College activities was developed and a post-course evaluation system introduced.
• Exchange programme: the College/Agis exchange programme came to a successful conclusion with the publication of ‘Exchanging places: sharing police knowledge and practice in the European Union’.
• Research and science: the College developed the concept for a ‘European Police Science and Research Bulletin’. The 2008 CEPOL European Police Research and Science Conference focused on ‘Comparative policing research from a European perspective’ with a focus on organised crime.
• Euromed Police II project: nine preparatory meetings, eight seminars and five study visits took place for senior police officers in the MEDA countries. A meeting of the General Directors of the police, customs and security services from the MEDA regions and the EU Member States was organised. A specific section of the College restricted website on e-Net was developed and became operational in November 2008.

Full details of the College’s accounts are available from the following address: http://www.cepol.europa.eu/index.php?id=final-accounts