Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union and in particular Articles 30(1), 31 and 34(2)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland^f1,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

The Tampere European Council of 15 and 16 October 1999 concluded that there was a need to develop crime prevention measures, to exchange best practices and to strengthen the network of competent national authorities for crime prevention, as well as cooperation between national organisations specialising in this field, specifying that this cooperation could have as its chief priorities juvenile, urban and drug-related crime. To this end, a study of the possibility of a programme financed by the Community was called for.

Recommendation 6 of the European Union strategy for the beginning of the new millennium on the prevention and control of organised crime^f2 calls for the Council to be assisted by suitably qualified experts on crime prevention, such as the national focal points, or by establishing a network of experts from national crime prevention organisations.

Council Decision 2001/427/JHA established a European Crime Prevention Network^f3.

An external evaluation of the European Crime Prevention Network which was conducted in 2008-2009 identified opportunities for strengthening the Network which were accepted by the EUCPN Board and which make it necessary to repeal Decision 2001/427/JHA and to replace it by a new Council Decision concerning the Network.

The evaluation identified the need for more engagement in the activities of the Network by the national representatives.

A number of changes are required to strengthen the Network which include amendments to the provisions dealing with contact points, the Secretariat, the structure of the Board and its tasks, including the appointment of the Chair.

Changes in the composition of the Network should be efficient and cost-effective, drawing on previous experiences of Member States in funding and carrying out the secretarial and other Network tasks. The Board should increase efforts in cooperating to investigate and exploit to their full potential, the possibilities for funding through the general budget of the European Union. This could be done on the basis of either framework partnerships or that the Network is included in the list of recognised monopoly bodies in the relevant financing programme.

Other provisions should be based on Decision 2001/427/JHA,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: