The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Kinga GÁL (EPP, HU) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Union agency for law enforcement training (Cepol), repealing and replacing Council Decision 2005/681/JHA.
The committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:
Objectives of CEPOL training: it is proposed to redefine the objectives of CEPOL training so that it includes improving cooperation among law enforcement authorities in the Union by supporting and implementing the training of their law enforcement officials in relation to the prevention, detection and investigation of criminal offences, maintenance of law and order and EU police missions, in order to foster a coherent European training policy, and in order to strengthen the fundamental rights dimension of law enforcement training.
CEPOL's activities have been redefined so that they raise awareness and knowledge of international and Union instruments and activities on law enforcement cooperation, Union bodies, in particular Europol, Eurojust, and Frontex, their functioning and role as well as judicial aspects of law enforcement cooperation.
CEPOL shall promote a common respect for and understanding of fundamental rights in law enforcement including:
- data privacy,
- data protection,
- the rights, support and protection of victims, witnesses and suspects, including safeguarding the rights of victims of gender-based violence.
Amongst the objectives of CEPOL, the following should be prioritised:
- strengthening cooperation networks of law enforcement agencies in managing flows of illegal immigration;
- developing, coordinating and implementing training to support Member States and Union bodies in training law enforcement officials for participation in Union missions and law enforcement capacity-building activities in third countries;
- organising common curricula to raise awareness and knowledge, address gaps and/or facilitate a common approach in relation to cross-border criminal phenomena, in particular with regard to terrorism, cybercrime, financial investigation, and participation in Union missions;
- carrying out, cooperating with or encouraging scientific research and surveys, preparatory studies and feasibility studies including, where appropriate and compatible with its priorities and its annual work programme, at the request of the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission, particularly with regard to the fight against serious crime and more general cross border criminal matters in training activities. To carry out those tasks, CEPOL may manage dedicated Union research funds.
To avoid duplication: in order to make the most efficient use of its resources, CEPOL's activities should be focused on thematic areas that have a clear Union added value and a cross-border dimension, closely linked to the Internal Security Strategy.
To avoid duplication and given the limited resources of CEPOL, uncoordinated initiatives or overlap in the training activities for the competent law enforcement personnel, which are carried out by existing European Union Agencies and other relevant bodies, CEPOL should assess strategic training needs and recommends Union training priorities in the area of internal security and its external aspects.
Furthermore and for the sake of limiting duplication, a number of training activities have been removed such as the development of regional and bilateral cooperation.
Sufficient budget resources to ensure the new tasks assigned to CEPOL: in order to guarantee the full autonomy and independence of CEPOL and to enable it to properly perform the objectives and tasks assigned to it, it should be granted a sufficient and autonomous budget with revenue stemming essentially from a contribution from the budget of the Union.
Cost-benefit analysis: the committee called on the Commission to present, no later than two years after the date of application of this Regulation, a cost-benefit analysis and an impact assessment on the seat.