PCC SEE
PCC SEE Main Bodies
The Committee of Ministers
Pursuant to Art.33, paragraph 1, the main body under the Convention is the Committee of Ministers composed of the competent ministers of the Contracting Parties. The Committee of Ministers decides unanimously on the interpretation, implementation and application of the Convention.
According to the decision of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria on the accession to the Convention, Bulgaria is represented in the Committee of Ministers by the Minister of Interior.
Following the PCC SEE Rules of Procedure the meetings of the Committee of Ministers are organised at least once a year. They are chaired by the respective Minister representing the Party that holds the chairmanship. The Contracting Party that holds the chairmanship may, based on consultations with other Parties to the Convention, invite third countries or organizations as observers to the meetings of the Committee and/or to the meetings of other Bodies. Observers, as well as the representatives of the Secretariat who are present at all meetings of the Bodies, do not have voting rights. All decisions of the Committee are taken by unanimity.
The first meeting of the Committee of Ministers was held on 17 July 2008 in Vienna, organised jointly by the initiator of the Convention Austria and by the depositary Albania. During the meeting conclusions were adopted, approving the establishment of the Secretariat and the Expert Working Group and endorsing as priorities several key recommendations for the practical implementation of the Convention.
Conclusions from the first meeting of the Committee of Ministers
The second meeting of the Committee of Ministers was held on 17 November 2009 in Brussels in the margins of the EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Forum. A number of key documents were approved – Rules of Procedure of the Committee of Ministers, Decision on the Rules of Procedure for Evaluations in the Area of Data Protection, Action Plan Concerning the Key Recommendations for the Implementation of the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe, Decision on the rotation of the Chairmanship of the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe, Work Programme for 2010 and Communication Strategy.
Conclusions from the second meeting of the Committee of Ministers
The third meeting of the Committee of Ministers, held on 20-21 May 2010 was the concluding event of the Bulgarian Chairmanship-in-Office. The meeting gathered the respective Ministers of CPs (with the exception of Albania which was represented by a Deputy Minister), the PCC SEE Secretariat and representatives of the international partners and donors to PCC SEE (DCAF, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Europol, CEPOL, the General Secretariat to the Council of EU, SECI Center, SEPCA).
During the first session of the meeting the Bulgarian Chairmanship, the other CPs and the PCC SEE Secretariat reviewed the achievements with regard to the implementation of the Convention in the different countries and in general, and discussed their visions on the possible further steps in order to make the Convention fully operational.
During the second session the Bulgarian Chairmanship initiated a discussion on PCC SEE as a modern instrument for exchange of information and efficient police cooperation in the region, proposing to focus on the “human dimension” of the law enforcement cooperation. The Ministers agreed to take particular steps for the establishment of direct contacts between the competent law enforcement structures with similar competences responsible for the implementation of each of the forms of cooperation provided for in PCC SEE, in order to identify the concrete partners, to build mutual trust and to reach efficient interaction.
A Memorandum of Understanding regarding the cooperation and support for the PCC SEE Secretariat was signed by the Ministers of CPs and the Director of DCAF in the framework of the meeting. The document reiterates the full commitment of CPs to an effective implementation process, including the allocation of necessary financial and human resources, and sets out the role and tasks of the Secretariat, institutionalising its activities performed since September 2008.
The third meeting of the Committee of Ministers also gave possibilities for bilateral meeting between the Ministers. The Bulgarian Minister of Interior had meetings with his colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, and the Secretary General of the Bulgarian Ministry met with the Albanian delegation and the Director of the SECI Center. Different issues of mutual interest and particular proposals for the enhancement of the bilateral and regional operational cooperation were the focus of these meetings.
Conclusions from the Third meeting of the Committee of Ministers
Memorandum of Understanding between the Contracting Parties and DCAF
Decision CoM 01/10 on the endorsement of the Strategy paper Regarding the Conduct of Harmonised Training on Convention Related Matters
Decision CoM 02/10 on changing the term into “harmonised training”
The forth meeting of the Committee of Ministers will take place on 19 October 2010 in Brdo, Slovenia, in the framework of the annual ministerial meeting of the Brdo process.
Expert Working Group
Pursuant to Art.33, paragraph 2 of the Convention, an Expert Working Group (EWG) was established with a decision of the Committee of Ministers. EWG is a supervising body which observes the application and implementation of the Convention and gives recommendations to the Committee of Ministers for interpretation and improvements of the provisions of the Convention.
The Expert working group (hereinafter EWG).
The EWG in formal setting should meet at least once every six months. A formal EWG can be attended by the Contracting Parties and observers.
The PCC SEE Rules of Procedure envisage that the EWG can meet in two different settings: an informal and a formal one. shall be performed in formal and informal format. The decisions may be taken only within the frames of the formal meetings which are conducted at least once on every six months. The conclusions formulated during the informal meetings are not obligatory for the Contracting Parties.
The first formal meeting of the EWG was held on 6 March 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia, and the second – on 29-30 June 2009 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The third meeting of the EWG is scheduled for 19-21 April 2010 in Ljubljana as its main objective will be preparation of the documents for the meeting of the Committee of Ministers in Sofia in May 2010.
Minutes from the first meeting of the EWG
Minutes from the second meeting of the EWG
The third meeting of the EWG was scheduled for 19-21 April 2010 in Slovenia but due to the volcano flight crisis the meeting was postponed. The meeting was held on 19 May 2010 in Sofia, prior to the meeting of the Committee of Ministers.
The main focus of the meeting was the preparation of the Third meeting of CoM.
Following one of the main priorities of the Bulgarian Chairmanship on the introduction of harmonised training on Convention related matters, the EWG adopted three decisions in this regard, approved under the silent procedure prior to the meting in Sofia:
- on the endorsement of the Strategy Paper regarding the conduct of Harmonised Training on Convention related matters;
- on changing the term “Standardised Training” to “Harmonised Training”;
- on the Establishment of a Thematic Working Group on Police Education and Training within PCC SEE.
Along with that, at its meeting on 19 May 2010 EWG approved in principle the elaboration of a “roadmap” on the implementation of the Convention in the period 2010-2015, where all particular activities aimed at the full implementation of the Convention will be pointed out.
The Communication Strategies of the Secretariat and the Contracting parties were also subject of the discussions, in order to achieve better promoting of the Convention as an efficient instrument for cooperation among the officers in the respective countries who should implement it in practice, as well as among the international partners beyond the region.
Minutes from the third meeting of the EWG
The forth meeting of the EWG was convened under the Macedonian Chairmanship-in-office on 16 September 2010 in Skopje. The focus was put on the discussions on the draft Roadmap on the implementation of PCC SEE for the period 2011-2015. Along with this, numerous issues of current interest were discussed – the state of play with regard to data protection in the individual Contracting Parties; the state of play with regard to concluded implementation agreements; the need to classify the PCC SEE Manual; conducting cross-birder surveillance and hot pursuit exercises; implementation of the JITs project, etc.
ON the initiative of the Macedonian Chairmanship-in-office and the PCC SEE Secretariat, a thematic WG on Forged and Fake Travel Documents was established.
Minutes from the forth meeting of the EWG
Updated on at Monday, October 11, 2010
|