18th Strategy Committee Meeting

Summary
4 February, 2010
Madrid, Spain

The 18th Strategy Committee was hosted by the Spanish Presidency in Madrid, Spain.

During the meeting, the Chair announced the following:

• Ulf Göransson had left his position as Director on 31 January 2010;
• Due to procedural matters, the anticipated starting date of the new Director is 16 February;
• The Head of Programmes will assume the post of Interim Director as per Governing Board decision 7/2006/GB;
• The OLAF report will be distributed in due time and discussed accordingly. The Spanish Presidency has had contact with the Commission, OLAF and a legal advisor of the EU Foundation on this matter.

The Chair also gave details of an informal meeting of Ministry of Interior held on 21 January 2010; and of a report on cooperation between JHA agencies namely Europol, Eurojust, Frontex and CEPOL. Information from the Police Cooperation Working Party held in Brussels where an ERASMUS style programme was presented.

The Interim Director announced:

• The establishment of a Staff Committee within the Secretariat;
• Details of the recruitment status within the Secretariat;
• Procurement status report;
• Budget status report for 2009;
• Following a decision of the Director the correction co-efficient for Seconded National Experts will not be introduced by CEPOL;
• CEPOL promotional brochure has been launched and is available to download from the CEPOL website. Copies will be distributed to Member States shortly;
• The Secretariat will undertake various fundraising initiatives to raise funds for Naomi House a registered charity who offer care for terminally ill children and their families.

The Strategy Committee recommended the 19th Governing Board adopt the following draft decisions:

• To rename and change the remits of the Common Curricula Coordination Working Group;
• The revised remit of the Research and Science Working Group;
• The establishment of a Project Group and a Working Group to work on the implementation of an Exchange Programme in line with the requirements of the Stockholm Programme.

The Committee also discussed:

• The methodology when developing a CEPOL strategy;
• The Invitation to Tender related to the Five Year External Evaluation of CEPOL;
• Draft Budget 2011;
• The option of Framework Partnerships and Grant Agreements for CEPOL activities;
• Cooperation agreements with various external bodies;
• The number of Governing Board meetings held each year.

The 19th Strategy Committee meeting will be held on 5 May 2010 at Bramshill, United Kingdom.