Over 170 000 law enforcement officials identified for priority training across the EU amid rising hybrid and cross-border threats.
Jan Pecháček, Executive Director of CEPOL presented the key findings of the Agency’s EU Strategic Training Needs Assessment (EU-STNA) report 2026-2029 at today’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI), marking the official launch of the report’s digital publication.
‘The EU-STNA message is clear. We are at a turning point for EU internal security training. EU-level training can no longer be seen as a series of isolated interventions designed to tackle individual threats. It is becoming a strategic investment in preparedness, resilience and joint operational capacity’ he stated.
Stressing CEPOL’s key role in supporting this transformation, he added:
As the EU hub for law enforcement training, the Agency strengthens cooperation, promotes common standards and facilitates knowledge exchange across the EU and beyond.
The findings of CEPOL’s latest strategic assessment show a significant increase in training demand. Member States indicated that more than 170 000 law enforcement officials should be trained in the identified priorities, representing a 55% increase compared to the previous cycle 2022-2025.
The report identifies 16 thematic training priorities, as ranked by Member States:
| 1. Drug trafficking | 9. VAT (including MTIC fraud) |
| 2. Cyber-attacks | 10. Border management and maritime security |
| 3. Counterterrorism | 11. Environmental crime |
| 4. Online fraud schemes | 12. Firearms and explosive crimes |
| 5. Migrant smuggling | 13. Hybrid threats |
| 6. Online child sexual exploitation | 14. Intellectual property crime, counterfeiting of goods and currencies |
| 7. Excise and customs fraud | 15. External dimensions of internal security |
| 8. Trafficking in human beings | 16. Other training needs |
While the top priorities remained relatively stable, there have been some important developments. Hybrid threats appear as a rising element, while there is a stronger emphasis on integrity, anti-corruption and the use of administrative tools, mirroring the trends in EMPACT priorities.
Across the 16 thematic priorities, 219 training needs should be addressed. These training needs point to an evident evolution in the EU-level training landscape which should prioritise cross-border, technology-enabled, and intelligence-driven learning approaches that strengthen both operational cooperation and analytical capability.
The report also reveals 9 cross-cutting horizontal training priorities including law enforcement cooperation, information exchange and interoperability, use of digital tools, AI and new technologies, fundamental rights and document fraud.
Law enforcement requires not only specialised knowledge within each crime area, but also transversal competencies that cut across operational domains, including digital investigation, financial and crypto-forensics, intelligence-led analysis, and ethical, rights-based practice. Looking ahead two areas stand out: the integration of AI-related skills and end-to-end asset recovery competencies, which are expected to become core elements of training.
Overall, the findings signal a shift from thematic, threat-specific training towards an integrated model that builds cooperative mechanisms, anticipatory capacity, and resilience across the entire European law enforcement community.
Access the interactive digital version of the report here.
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Background information:
Published by the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training every four years, CEPOL's EU-STNA is the EU's authoritative, evidence-based framework for law enforcement training, ensuring preparedness for today's and tomorrow's security challenges.
As the essential reference for harmonised, high-impact, and future-proof training across the Union, the EU-STNA is a forward-looking analysis that identifies the EU training priorities in the area of internal security. It serves as a strategic handbook for providers of law enforcement education and training across the EU and provides guidance on what needs to be trained to help ensure that the learning offer available to law enforcement officials is pertinent and consistent.
Piloted in 2017, the first EU-STNA Report was published in 2018, listing training needs and recommended EU-level training guidelines for the period 2018-2021. The second EU-STNA report was released in 2022, covering the period 2022-2025. This report for 2026-2029 represents the third cycle of CEPOL’s EU Strategic Training Needs Assessment.
