The General Mentoring Programme is aiming at strengthening the development, knowledge, skills and expertise of law enforcement officials from EU Member State (MS) countries, Western Balkan countries and Türkiye, leading to contribute to a greater work effectiveness and a deeper exchange of best practices.
The programme transcends the individual level and provides benefits to both individual participants and their organisations by enhancing the knowledge sharing between officials and reinforcing the cooperation between participating institutions. This initiative is based on the methodology followed by the General Exchange Programme.
How does it work?
The General Mentoring Programme is meant to be a cooperative partnership (as mentor and mentee) between law enforcement officials.
‘Mentoring’ in policing and law enforcement context can be described as the process of “shadowing a mentee-officer by a mentor-officer, coming from similar background, for an extended period of time, with a view to witness the application of new knowledge and skills by the mentee-officer, and assisting them in furthering their skills, promoting professional growth and, overall, enhancing the effectiveness of the law enforcement agency” (Manual "Police Monitoring, Mentoring and Advising in Peace Operations", UN Peace Operations
).
This exchange scheme will therefore give the opportunity to law enforcement officials to share, in a formalised manner, their expertise in a dedicated professional area with other law enforcement officials working in the same domain. In the long run, this programme is expected to contribute to build trust and to strengthen the cooperation between the EU Member States, Western Balkan Countries and Türkiye.
During the mentoring activity, which can last from three months to one year, the mentor and mentee shall meet on a regular basis both in person and online and share experiences, best practices, work together and support each other to achieve the objectives.
Who can participate?
Law enforcement officials from EU Member States (Denmark as self-payer), Western Balkan Countries and Türkiye. Officials from Associated Countries such as Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland can take part in the programme at the cost of their own institutions.
Applicants must fulfil the following criteria:
- Have a reasonable level of English (at least level B2) enabling professional communication with CEPOL and colleagues about enforcing the law on the selected topics;
- Have minimum three years’ work experience and expertise in the defined specialised category - if applying as a Mentee;
- Have minimum ten years’ work experience and expertise in the defined specialised category - if applying as a Mentor;
- Have not participated in the Exchange Programme during the last three years preceding the call;
- Have a need and readiness for individual learning;
- Have the ability and willingness to cascade newly gained knowledge both in a European/international and on a national level.
Application process
In 2026, law enforcement officials must submit their applications through LEEd, CEPOL’s Law Enforcement Education Platform. If you would like to submit your application as a registered LEEd user, the Exchange Plugin on LEEd is open for applications, please read the User Guide.
If you are not a registered LEEd user yet, please read more here.
The extended deadline for applications is 17 March 2026, 23:55 CET.
Important information:
Applicants must have prior authorisation by their hierarchy/organisation to apply for the Exchange Programme and / or they need to contact their National Exchange Coordinator in order to receive approval for applying. Their application can be rejected if they did not receive authorisation prior to applying.
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More information
The CEPOL Exchange Programme 2026 course page is available for all LEEd users here. It contains beside the video recording of the Introductory Webinar all the relevant User Guides and mandatory documents and templates necessary for applicants.
A forum for matching is also available in this course page where applicants can search or propose pre-matches between each-other before submitting applications.
