The Romanian presidency of the Police Cooperation Convention for South-Eastern Europe (PCC-SEE) organized the 23rd meeting of the CPC SEE Committee of Ministers in Bucharest, June 20th-21st, 2023.
At this event, in addition to the delegations of the PCC SEE contracting states, representatives of Germany and the Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), officials of DG DIGIT, EUROPOL, EUCARIS, the FRONTEX Agency, the European Union Agency for Cooperation in Criminal Justice Matters (EUROJUST), CEPOL, international organizations IOM and the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), as well as relevant regional organizations for police cooperation, namely the South-East European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC), the Common Platform of Cooperation (JCP), the Integrative Governance Initiative in Internal Security (IISG) and the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI).
The agenda of the 23rd meeting of the PCC SEE’s Committee of Ministers covered complex and highly interesting topics on the European agenda, namely the fight against migrant trafficking through the Western Balkans and the impact of the war in Ukraine on police cooperation.
The main milestones of the discussions focused on the need for constant coordination between all the actors involved. The operative exchange of data and information must be the key notion for ensuring a climate of security within the European Union, in the Western Balkans and in the Republic of Moldova. Another important conclusion is that we need to implement even more projects together with EUROPOL, CEPOL, EUROJUST, and FRONTEX and in synergy with the other regional organizations, to increase stability and prosperity in the EEA region of Europe.
In the framework of the multilateral dialogue, the participants agreed to undertake coordinated efforts to prevent possible phenomena of transnational crime associated with the war, including after its conclusion, but also to deal with potential major incidents.
At the same time, during the discussions, an evaluation of the activities carried out at the level of expert groups organized under the auspices of the current Romanian Presidency, namely the 30th meeting of the Working Group of PCC SEE Experts, Bucharest, March 30th-31st, 2023, and the first meeting of the Thematic Working Group on the practical and technical implementation of the Prüm-type Agreement within the PCC SEE, Belgrade, June 13th-14th, 2023.
The decision to establish the Working Group was taken during the Romanian Presidency of the Convention, with a Romanian expert from the INC to chair the Group for a period of 2 years.
***
The Police Cooperation Convention for South-Eastern Europe was signed in Vienna, on May 5th, 2006, by Austria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Hungary. Croatia formally joined this form of cooperation in the fall of 2019. The parties thus set out to strengthen police cooperation in the Western Balkans by adapting EU norms to legal provisions and local practices in the matter. Romania previously held the Presidency in 2012 and 2017.
