The present and the future of cross border police and customs information exchange between the EU and the Western Balkan region

Abstract

International police cooperation is facing a new and serious challenge, as the fight against current emerging security threats (terrorism, foreign fighters, radicalization and extremism) in the world and in Europe requires a real time, non-bureaucratic information exchange among all countries’ Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) without geographical limitation. The report aims to introduce briefly the methods of international police cooperation, focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of information exchange conducted by PCCCs within the European Union (EU) and in the Western Balkan region. The main objective of the document is to ascertain, whether the current situation in the field of PCCCs in the Western Balkans fulfils the requirement of the above-mentioned criteria, such as the capability to conduct real time data exchange without geographical limits. To find this out, we will analyse the state of play, reveal strengths and weaknesses of the system, and will elaborate a way forward to an enhanced and effective information exchange, that can ensure the overall goal; to increase the efficiency of LEAs in their fight against terrorism and Transnational Threats (TNT).