15.7.2006   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 164/30

(1)

The European Union's objective is, inter alia, to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice by developing common action among the Member States in the field of police cooperation.

(2)

On 25 April 2002, the Council adopted Decision 2002/348/JHA (2) which established national football information points in each Member State as the designated point for sharing police information in respect of football matches with international dimension. That Decision sets out the tasks and procedures to be adopted by each national football information point.

(3)

In the light of experience in recent years, such as the European Championships in 2004 and the experts' assessment of international police cooperation in the framework of that championship and extensive police cooperation in respect of international and club matches in Europe generally, the Decision should be revised and updated. In recent years, the number of supporters travelling to matches abroad continues to grow. Therefore, it is necessary for the competent bodies to strengthen their cooperation and to professionalize the exchange of information in order to prevent public order disturbances and to allow every Member State to make an efficient risk assessment. The proposed amendments are the results of gathered experiences from several national football information points in their daily work and should enable them to work in a more structured and professional way, ensuring the exchange of high quality information.

(4)

The amendments are without prejudice to existing national provisions, in particular the divisions and responsibilities among the different authorities and services in the Member States concerned, and to the exercise by the Commission of its powers under the Treaty establishing the European Community,

1)

Article 2 shall be amended as follows:

2)

The following paragraph shall be added to Article 3:

‘4.   Information shall be exchanged using the appropriate forms contained in the appendix to the handbook with recommendations for international police cooperation and measures to prevent and control violence and disturbances in connection with football matches with an international dimension, in which at least one Member State is involved. National football information points shall ensure that the information they send is complete and in conformity with those forms.’.