The Politics of Euro-Balkan Police Cooperation in the 2000s

While ‘more police cooperation’ has long been the European Union (EU) policy-makers’ mantra, the new buzzword today seems to be ‘trust’. Trust is seen by the European Commission as one of three key elements – the others being ‘tools’ and ‘training’ – in European police cooperation, and as a commodity that can be ‘built’ and ‘promoted’. Another illustration of the emphasis laid on trust can be found in the police cooperation programme under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, in which building trust among the police forces of the EU and Eastern Partnership countries is a primary aim. Furthermore, in policies of the Council of the EU on police cooperation ‘trust’ is now a recurrent concept. However, none of these EU policy documents offer an explanation on what is actually understood to be ‘trust’ and how and why this is an apparently important element in police cooperation. Generally it is also not specified who should be trusting who, and why.Also, in the literature on police cooperation trust is frequently mentioned as a requisite for police cooperation and a lack of trust is generally attributed to different backgrounds of police officers, or malpractice such as (a perception of) corruption. However, a more in-depth analysis of the concept of trust in relation to police cooperation and how the mechanisms of (dis)trust in police cooperation actually work, so far has not been published. With some exceptions the concept of ‘trust’ is generally taken for granted. This is a bit unfortunate as there is a wealth of sociological literature on trust, for example from Coleman, Luhman and Sztompka who each provide a theoretical perspective that may serve to advance our understanding of the aspect of trust in police cooperation.Against a background of these sociological perspectives on trust, as well as practical police cooperation practices, this paper analyses the need for trust in police cooperation. The key question this chapter aims to answer is why trust is needed to establish police cooperation. To that end, the next section first presents theoretical perspectives on trust, using mainly the work of Coleman, Luhman and Sztompka, illustrated with practical examples from police cooperation situations. It will arrive at a definition of trust and will above all consider the intimate relation between trust and risk. Section three thereafter examines the risks in police cooperation and introduces six categories of concrete situations that may lead to a breach of trust, which could derail cooperation between police. The penultimate section is dedicated to the strategies that police use to mitigate the risks in cooperation and will map these strategies to the theories as discussed in section two. The final section brings the different insights uncovered throughout this chapter together.

Leaving the UE by the UK has brought a number of consequences for bilateral Polish-British police and justice cooperation. The subject of the article was to present legal regulations, which provide the basis for international cooperation for British law enforcement agencies. The author analyzed and then evaluated the effectiveness of instruments of mutual cooperation. The articles focuses also on the assessment of Brexit consequences and its possible impact on the Polish-British police cooperation. It is worth emphasising that cross-border law enforcement cooperation - which includes police, customs, secret services and other law enforcement agencies, mainly concerns the most serious threats such as terrorism, organised crime, human traffi cking, money laundering, drug traffi cking or cybercrime. The article shows that the most unfavourable changes result from dropping the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom - is disconnection from the second generation Schengen Information System. The article includes also information about The Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which has retained a number of important mechanisms for effective police cooperation between EU Member States and the United Kingdom. But although, as mentioned in the article, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom provides upgrades of the tools of police and judicial cooperation, it is a matter of practise to verify these as sufficient.

Decentralisation Trends in European Union Police Cooperation: Implications for Efficacy and Accountability

The Serbian police were, from the very beginning of the foundation, dedicated to international police cooperation. Serbia was one of the first countries which initiated international police cooperation, as well as one of the founders and active participants of the International Criminal Police Commission, which laid the foundation for international police cooperation, and later turned into the largest and most famous international police organization - Interpol.Today, in the era of establishing a single market and facilitating free movement within the EU, we are witnessing an increase in international organized crime.It is impossible to oppose the rise of crime only at the national level, within the borders of one's own country, separated from other countries - adequate police cooperation is necessary. Therefore, each country, including our own, is expected to engage in the framework of international police cooperation in the prevention and combating of crime professionally and responsibly. Even more so because Serbia is in the process of accession negotiations with the EU and for this purpose it has to fulfill certain conditions, including those related to police cooperation. As part of these negotiations, a lot of attention is paid to the development of police cooperation and it has been given an increased importance, but the work on strengthening and developing international police cooperation as a permanent value and an indispensable instrument in the fight against crime should continue regardless of the course and duration of the accession negotiations. Serbia has recognized the major challenges ahead of it in the process of accepting and harmonizing with European standards in the field of police cooperation.In that sense, it should continue to further harmonize domestic legislation with the EU legal attainment and intensively develop the administrative, analytical and operational capacities needed to achieve police cooperation. This paper focuses on the beginnings of international police cooperation and the role of Serbia in this process, then moves on to the development of police cooperation within the European Union, and eventually gives a review of what is required under Chapter 24 in the area of police cooperation, and what Serbia has done so far.

The tensions between transnational data exchange by police authorities as well as intelligence agencies on the one hand and the need for data privacy on the other hand are increasing. The European Union follows an ambivalent approach intensifying data exchange as well as reforming data protection in the context of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Based on eu constitutional law, the cjeu defends privacy rights in the eu. Beyond the European perspective, the paper argues based on a comparison of data privacy in the eu, us and Australia in favour of the establishment and strengthening of international data privacy rights. A more detailed concept of international digital rights would be necessary to address all different issues of data privacy in the context of trans-border surveillance. While intelligence agencies and police cooperation are already linked on a global level, the protection of data privacy is not organized on an international level in an equivalent way.

The data protection directive regulated the issue of processing of personal data, excluding from its field of application activities that relate to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The terrorist attacks of 2001 and the bombings in Madrid and London have given a new impulse to political interest in police cooperation throughout the European Union and its regulation in order to ensure greater efficiency. As a response, the European Commission presented in October 2005 a Draft Framework Decision on the protection of personal data processed in the framework of police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. Numerous drafts have been prepared thereafter, but no consensus has been yet reached (August 2007). In our paper we will present the current developments at European level for the regulation of the issue of data protection in the third pillar and we will analyse the main principles that should be applied in order to ensure a coherent data protection framework, which will pay due respect to the fundamental rights of the citizens, and especially the right to privacy and data protection on one hand, and the safeguards for an effective law enforcement system on the other.

Ludo Block is a former Dutch police officer who from 1999 till 2004 served as the police liaison officer for the Dutch National Police Agency in Moscow. In this article he responds to claims that the extent of police cooperation in Europe is insufficient, stating that the extent to which such claims are justified is unclear, as most appear to be based on anecdotal evidence—systematic evaluations of police cooperation are scarce. With the aim of providing a better understanding of international police cooperation in combating organized crime, this article investigates practices of European police cooperation. Particular attention is given to a case study of a drug-trafficking investigation, the daily practices of police liaison officers, and joint investigation teams. These demonstrate that, notwithstanding room for improvement, extensive and successful police cooperation does exist in Europe. Various factors influencing police cooperation are identified and illustrate that it is a complex and dynamic field. It can therefore be concluded that claims about the state of play of European police cooperation based on anecdotal evidence are unable to present an accurate picture.

This chapter examines the extensive, diverse, and politically contentious range of issues that usually fall within the domain of interior or justice ministries in the European Union member states. EU member states seek to work together on issues such as asylum, refugee protection, migration, border controls, police cooperation, and judicial cooperation. The chapter first explains the meaning of ‘security’ before discussing formal and informal transgovernmentalism as well as partial communitarization, along with the five-year policy plan drafted by the interior ministers of the member states in Tampere, Finland, specifying their objectives in the area of internal security policy and cooperation. It also explores three areas in which there has been policy development in the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice (AFSJ): anti-terrorism; migration, asylum, and border controls; and the European arrest warrant. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the implications of the Lisbon Treaty for EU’s internal security.

Police cooperation is essential not only to investigate crime, but also to prevent it. Sharing information and best practices between law enforcement agencies allows early identification of threats, which can lead to prompt and effective interventions. At the same time, working together can reduce legislative or procedural disparities between states, which helps to strengthen joint efforts to fight crime. In addition to legal and operational challenges, police cooperation also raises ethical, privacy and data protection issues. In the digital age, the exchange of information between police agencies must comply with strict data protection standards in line with national and international legislation, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. Thus, police cooperation is an indispensable tool in criminal investigations, offering the possibility to go beyond the geographical and legal limits imposed by national borders. However, its effectiveness depends on a clear legislative framework, mutual trust between partners and the adoption of modern technologies to facilitate real-time communication and information exchange. Police cooperation is an essential element in the fight against contemporary crime, but its effectiveness depends on resolving the legislative and operational problems that sometimes prevent effective inter-agency cooperation. Technological development and adaptation to new forms of crime also remain major challenges in this area.

This chapter focuses on the questions of police cooperation with regard to serious and organised crime in the Dutch border area, in the context of broader developments with regard to this topic within the European Union (EU) as a whole. First, it briefly describes the legal framework and the organisational infrastructure for police cooperation in the Dutch border areas. Secondly, the chapter focuses on problems of serious and organised crime in these regions, and addresses the questions with regard to police cooperation in dealing with these problems. It draws largely from empirical research conducted in the Dutch border areas. The chapter concentrates on recent proposals for further improving the legal and organisational frameworks for police cooperation articulated by the EU as well as specifically in the Dutch border areas. Keywords: Dutch border areas; European Union (EU); police cooperation

This chapter evaluates the potential for police cooperation and the availability of proper accountability and democratic safeguards within the future legal framework of the European Union (EU). It focuses on the changes and possibilities included in the Lisbon Treaty as well as on the ideas contained in the two Future Group reports regarding the Third Pillar, the report of the Future Group on Home Affairs Policy and that of the Future Group on Justice. The chapter also evaluates the Treaty's reshaped general legal framework and its impact on police cooperation prior to assessing the specific provisions on police cooperation contained in Title V Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The report of the Future Group on Home Affairs Policy identifies deepening police cooperation as an essential task, especially through information sharing, interoperability of files, common training programmes and exchange networks as well as through simplified cooperation procedures. Keywords: European police cooperation; European Union (EU); Lisbon; TFEU

Today, community policing that penetrate police organizations and strategies emphasize maintaining order. The purification of disorder relies on citizen cooperation. This is because the concept of disorder emerges only when citizens are concerned about victimization after observing a specific phenomenon. In other words, citizens are the subjects that define disorder. Accordingly, community policing pursue joint production of security between citizens and police. Based on the significance of such police cooperation, a number of studies have explored the factors influencing police cooperation. In previous studies, police legitimacy was pointed out as the cause of police cooperation. Meanwhile, various academia such as business administration, tourism, and sports studies introduced the concept of place attachment as a prerequisite for cooperation. Place attachment refers to the tendency of an individual to love the community and maintain a bond with the community. Place attachment provides an individual with a kind of ownership. Accordingly, individuals are expected to make practical efforts to improve or maintain the local environment. One of them is cooperation. In other words, place attachment is expected to induce police cooperation. As a result of multiple regression analysis using a sample of 815 adults, it was found that place attachment enhances the willingness to cooperate with the police. Therefore, this study proposed to explore the various drivers behind police cooperation by breaking away from the procedural justice model.

Three key questions arise from the encroachment of the European Union (EU) on national prerogatives in the administration of justice: What factors contribute to the weakest link collective action problem attending police and judicial cooperation within the EU? What were the substantive and institutional goals of the EU in this policy domain? What accounts for the rising level of police and judicial cooperation despite the persistence of barriers to cooperation and incentives to defect? This article first establishes the fundamental incentives and obstacles to cooperation in matters of transnational security threats in post-Westphalian Europe. It then proceeds to explore the evolution of police and judicial cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs between 1999 and 2009, to assess national contributions to police and judicial cooperation, and to consider the potential impact that the changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, Stockholm Programme and European Investigation Order. A final question is considered in the conclusion: Did the level and extent of police and judicial cooperation that emerged between 1999 and 2009 give rise to a community of practice that in turn fostered a nascent community of identity resilient enough to mitigate the weakest link technology of public goods production endemic to this policy domain?

The third column in the common image of the European Union as a Greek temple with three pillars is said to represent the combined efforts of the judiciary and the police in the context of criminal matters. As stated in the Treaty on European Union, the third pillar was erected to provide citizens with a ‘high level of security’. The Article, though it does not establish how high exactly this ‘high level’ is supposed to be, states that such should be achieved through ‘combating racism and xenophobia’ and developing a common action through police and judicial co-operation. This chapter focuses on police co-operation under the third pillar and police co-operation in the European Union.

The long-term police cooperation practices between China and ASEAN have accumulated a deep foundation of win-win resources to combat the transnational crime. Many efforts has directed by China and ASEAN member countries to combat the transnational crime. Even though there is a a great achievement in combating telecommunication and online fraud, the police cooperation have not reached up to expectations because of different laws, deceitfulness and concealment of transnational criminal groups, transferring of criminal hidden place and the new change of the criminal organization. Determined to protect the regional peace and tranquility, China and ASEAN would strengthen police cooperation in following aspects: making a comprehensive strategic road-map, promoting the integration of multi-layer cooperation mechanisms, giving full play of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and to established a China-ASEAN Information Fusion Center Against Transnational Crime.