CEPOL OTNA Law enforcement cooperation, information exchange and interoperability

Between December 2024 and February 2025, CEPOL conducted an Operational Training Needs Analysis (OTNA) on Law Enforcement Cooperation, Information Exchange and Interoperability, using an online questionnaire as the primary data collection tool. The questionnaire explored 17 maintopics through two dedicated survey lines: one focusing on law enforcement cooperation and the other on Information exchange and interoperability. 

The OTNA received 67 contributions from 23 European Union (EU) Member States (MS), Switzerland (a non-EU partner country) and one EU body, with the majority of responses coming from police authorities, while customs, border police, judicial authorities,
and other services were also represented. Nearly 40% of respondents addressed both dimensions, while the rest focused on either information exchange and interoperability or law enforcement cooperation as standalone areas.

Across the 17 topics surveyed, eight emerged as priorities for EU-level training, having been identified as relevant by over half of the responding MS in line with the OTNA methodology, which considers a topic as relevant for EU-level intervention when it is prioritised by at least 50% of responding countries.

In the area of law enforcement cooperation, training on Cross-border Operational Cooperation and Information Exchange, Single Point of Contact (SPOC), the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) mechanism, and Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) stood out as key areas where capacity-building is required.