8th Strategy Committee Meeting

Summary

14 September 2007

Lisbon, Portugal

The 8th Strategy Committee meeting was hosted by the Superior Institute of Police Sciences and Internal Security, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Apologies were received from the Chair of Training and Research Committee.

The Agenda and Outcome of Proceedings of the 7th Strategy Committee meeting held at Bramshill on 4 May 2007 were adopted without amendment.

The Chair announced the finalisation of three written proc

• The interim appointment of an Accounting Officer at CEPOL Secretariat;
• The amendment of the Establishment Plan to re?grade the post of Accounting Officer to AD5;
• The establishment of a Project Group for Reimbursement of Travel Expenditure for Course Participants.

The Director announced:

• Negotiations regarding the Cooperation Agreement with Europol had been finalised. It is anticipated the Agreement will be signed shortly.
• Friday 14 September is the final day for countries to nominate Module Advisors and Experts to work on the Common Curricula topics.

Information was given on the Commission’s Accrual Based Accounting System (ABAC). All CEPOL Secretariat staff will undergo training in the areas relevant to them. As a small agency CEPOL will encounter resource difficulties and a proposal will be presented to the 9th CEPOL Governing Board meeting to recruit two new members of staff.

Finland made a proposal at the 8th CEPOL Governing Board meeting to reduce the number of Governing Board meetings from four to three per year. The topic will be discussed at the Network Working Conference in Luxembourg in October.

The Committee discussed the proposal for Deputy Chairs to “automatically” take the role of Chair of Committees and Working Groups. A revised proposal will be presented to the September Governing Board meeting for adoption.

A proposal giving the Director a mandate to approve changes of meeting dates and venues was presented. The document was agreed upon and will be presented to the September Governing Board meeting for adoption.

Negotiations regarding a Cooperation Agreement with Russia are ongoing.

A paper giving the Commission’s opinion on the Annual Programme 2008 was presented. It is a very positive document and supports the work of CEPOL. An amended Work Programme and the paper giving the Commission’s opinion will be presented at the 9th CEPOL Governing Board meeting for information.

The 2009 Pre?estimation of the budget required by CEPOL is to be submitted to the Commission by the end of September. The Director presented a paper giving proposals of the 2009 budget and the main new proposed activities to be carried out by CPOL during 2009.

A draft paper on Establishing a Project Group “European Neighborhood Policy” was discussed. This will be reviewed further in the External Relations Working Group.

The Research & Science Working Group has produced a booklet on the findings on the European Approach to Police Research & Science. It is proposed to give away the publishing copyright of the booklet so that it can be printed in all Member State languages and to make an agreement with a publisher to publish the booklet in English.

Portugal was thanked for chairing the meeting and for their hospitality.