Preview document (🔗 origineel)

---

COUNCIL OF

THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 20 October 2008 





14509/08

LIMITE





JAI 555

CATS 82





NOTE

From :	Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg 

To :	Council

Subject :	Police cooperation within the Benelux

- Joint Presentation on the JHA Council of 24 October 2008



Introduction

Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have a long tradition in
regional cooperation in the field of internal security.

Already in 1962 a Benelux Treaty on mutual legal assistance has been
concluded, which also contained provisions on a close cooperation
between our police services.

The Benelux countries were also among the founding fathers of the
Schengen cooperation.

In 1996 the Benelux Ministers of Home Affairs and Justice have signed
the Senningen Memorandum of Understanding on the deepening of the
cooperation in the areas of police, justice and immigration.

Consultation and tuning in of policies and priorities take place
regularly, both on the level of the competent ministers and the senior
officials and on the level of the police chiefs of the 3 countries.

In 2004 an ambitious Benelux Treaty concerning cross-border police
intervention was signed.

The Benelux Treaty concerning cross-border police intervention of 8 June
2004

The Benelux Treaty concerning cross-border police intervention provides
for:

Assistance with a view to maintaining public order and security,
including the common organisation or coordination of events and
organised transportation – A very close practical cooperation in this
field has been developed over the last few years;

The possibility to carry out cross-border interventions in urgent cases;

The supply of means and material;

The direct exchange of personal data;

The joint use of liaison officers;

Far-reaching modalities on cross-border pursuit and observation – For
the cross-border pursuit for instance it’s possible to apprehend the
persons, there are no longer limitations in terms of distance and time
and it is also possible to pursuit suspects;

The possibility to set up cross-border missions of persons’
protection;

The possibility to set up joint police centres – For the moment we
have a joint police centre in Heerlen and in Luxemburg. We are studying
whether there is a need for joint police centres in other regions as
well;

The possibility to organise joint patrols and control actions;

A close cooperation in the field of training and education, technical
and scientific support, exchanging personnel;

Clear provisions on the competencies on each others territory
(authority, identification and visibility, use of force, transportation
means, liability, etc.).



The implementation of the Benelux police cooperation: The Senningen
action plan – An approach by making projects

In order to make the Benelux police cooperation as concrete and tangible
as possible a Senningen action plan has been developed for 2007-2008. A
number of specific objectives have been defined and for each objective
the competent actors and a timing have been set out.

A similar action plan exists for the field of crisis and emergency
planning.

In the field of police cooperation a whole series of projects is carried
out at present. They are dealing with:

Joint priorities on the basis of a common assessment

We are working on the establishment of joint priorities for our border
regions, on the basis of a common picture, assessment of criminality and
insecurity.

Loans and purchases

The possibilities for making joint purchases and for lending of
equipment are explored. A Benelux loan for use agreement has already
been signed and an assignment centre will be established in order to
harmonise the purchasing policies of the 3 countries.

Joint use of liaison officers 

Various implementation agreements have already been concluded. We are
striving for the common use of our network of liaison officers. In order
to support this project several joint training courses and seminars have
already been organised. A pilot project is running on the Balkan
countries. It is examined if our liaison officers could be jointly used
for the benefit of the competent services in the Benelux countries. 



Joint training courses and exercises

Exercises and training courses are the pivot of international police
cooperation. They are essential for the safety of the police officers
themselves, as well as for the legality of police actions abroad and
good neighbourly relations. Thanks to joint training courses and
exchanges of instructors, all practical experiences are guaranteed in
the regular police operations of each country.

The most recent exercise, in which almost 200 police officers
participated, took place on 23, 24 and 25 September 2008 and dealt with
the cooperation in the field of maintenance of public order and
security.

In 2007 training courses have been organised on investigation of
terrorist, radical and extremist websites.

Joint patrols and control actions (approach to traffic, drugs,
migration, etc.)

Joint patrols, controls and checks have been taking place ever since the
Benelux Treaty concerning cross-border police intervention was
concluded. In 2008 a survey has been conducted which has confirmed that
the police services in the border regions are investing in this kind of
cooperation.

In this light we can also mention the so-called “joint hit team”, a
team with police officers from the Benelux countries and France against
the international drug traffic.

Workshops 

Cross-border workshops are organised on a frequent basis in order to
allow sharing of the expertise present in the different countries. In
the spring of 2008 a workshop has been organised on information-led
policing. On 28 November 2008 a theme day will be held on the
administrative approach to organised crime.



Missions of persons’ protection

Our starting point is that VIP´s are to be protected by the same police
officers across national borders, thus avoiding difficult transfers at
the border. A manual has been written for VIP protection abroad, a
special Benelux form for information exchange has been drafted and
agreements have been reached on what the three countries understand by
“risk level”.

Benelux platform for technological monitoring

This project is in the starting blocks. It will deal with the digital
awareness. The intention is to make the police organisations in the
three countries more aware of both technological resources for their own
use and the technology which can be deployed by criminal organisations
or mala fide groups.

The Benelux countries are ready to provide the other EU Member States
with the practical experience they have gained through their
cooperation.

			__________

14509/08		RFP/scs	  PAGE  1 

		 LIMITE EN