Organised crime: European crime prevention network

The aim of this Decision is to foster cooperation between Member States in the field of crime prevention.

ACT

Council Decision 2001/427/JHA of 28 May 2001 setting up a European Crime Prevention Network.

SUMMARY

Since the conference in Stockholm in 1996, several conferences and seminars have been held with a view to defining a European crime prevention strategy. In the conclusions of the Tampere European Council, the Member States recognised the need to set up a system for the exchange of information, know-how, studies and research in the area of prevention.

The Decision provides for the setting up of a European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN). Prevention means any activity designed to reduce crime and the feeling which people have of being unsafe. The Network will have a Secretariat and consist of various contact points designated by each Member State, with a maximum of three per country. Each Member State must ensure that the contact points are conversant with at least one other official EU language, so as to guarantee communication with the contact points in the other Member States. The Commission will designate its own contact point. Europol and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Abuse (EMCDDA) are involved in the Network's activities, each in its own sphere.

The Network's activities focus on the fields of juvenile, urban and drug-related crime (priorities already fixed by the Tampere European Council).

The Network's objectives are to:

• facilitate cooperation, contacts and exchanges of information and experience;
• analyse information on existing crime prevention activities;
• define the main areas for cooperation and organise the annual award of the European Crime Prevention Prize;
• organise seminars, conferences and meetings;
• step up cooperation with the applicant countries;
• present a report to the Council each year on its activities.

The Network operates in close contact with crime prevention bodies, institutions and non-governmental organisations. It is also setting up a website.

The Network meets at least once every six months, the meeting being convened by the Member State holding the Council Presidency. The first meeting was on 28 August 2001.

The Commission provides the Network's secretariat, which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Network and maintaining its website.

The Council is to assess the activities of the Network three years after the adoption of the Decision.

The Decision takes effect on the day of its adoption.

RELATED ACTS

Each year the Network is to report to the Council on its activities and to set out the priority lines of action for its work programme for the year ahead.

2005 annual report of the European Crime Prevention Network.

In 2005, five main objectives were achieved:

• the restructuring of the Network;
• the development of the website, which will be administered by the United Kingdom until 2008;
• the development of a more effective approach for making use of the Network's support services (in particular the creation of a secretarial post for the Network)
• the creation of a work programme based on seven areas of action;
• the setting-up of a database for collecting best practices in the area of crime prevention.

In order to better assess the results of the following report, the objectives for 2006 are included in this report.

2004 annual report of the European Crime Prevention Network The Network of national representatives met four times in 2004. The report reviews the work of the three sub-groups:

• crime and victimisation (report on crime trends in the European Union);
• international benchmarking;
• juvenile crime.

2003 Annual Report of the European Crime Prevention Network

The 2003 report contains the following elements:

• an overview of institutional and organisational questions;
• specific activities of the EUCPN: application of a number of objectives and practical activities or initiatives carried out in its second year of operation;
• promising developments in EU crime prevention policy;
• perceived needs in the area of cooperation on crime prevention at EU level;
• the EUCPN's second work programme (2003-04), as approved on 24 February 2003;
• future prospects for the EUCPN and problems encountered along the way.

2002 Annual Report of the European Crime Prevention Network

The report states that the main events of 2002 were the launching of the EUCPN website, a conference in Aalborg (Denmark) and the establishment of a system for pooling information on best practices. At the end of 2002, all the Member States had designated their national representatives on the Network. In the course of the year, plenary meetings and informal meetings instigated by the Member States were organised to prepare practical measures relating in particular to mobile telephone theft, public-private partnerships for crime prevention and the prevention of juvenile delinquency.

In the 2003-04 work programme, the Network provides for more reports to be made available in electronic form and for a conference to be organised at the end of each year.

First annual report of the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN) (June - December 2001) Achievements in 2001 include:

• initial measures to set up the EUCPN website to disseminate knowledge of crime and crime prevention in the EU Member States;
• a conference to exchange best practices (held in Aalborg on 7/8 October 2002);
• pilot projects to improve the comparability of data relating to crime, criminal justice and victimisation in the EU Member States;
• initial measures to establish cooperation with other EU bodies.

Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Crime prevention in the European Union [COM(2004) 165 final ].

Council Decision 2002/630/JHA of 22 July 2002 establishing a framework programme on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (AGIS ) [Official Journal L 203 of 01.08.2002].

Council Decision 2001/515/JHA of 28 June 2001 establishing a programme of incentives and exchanges, training and cooperation for the prevention of crime (Hippocrates ) [Official Journal L 186 of 07.07.2001].

Last updated: 20.03.2007