Belgrade, 13 November 2023 - Under the auspices of the Serbian PCC SEE Chairmanship-in-Office, the PCC SEE Committee of Ministers convened for the 24th time in its statutory capacity of the highest PCC SEE decision-making body in the presence of observers from the European Commission, CEPOL, EUROPOL, ICMPD, IOM, JCP, MARRI, RAI Secretariat, and UNODC.

The Committee of Ministers confirmed the continued importance of the PCC SEE as a solid legal basis for cross-border police cooperation in the fight against current security challenges, particularly organized and serious crime, terrorism and irregular migration, as well as an umbrella platform to jointly seek new ways of intensifying cooperation among 12 PCC SEE Contracting Parties.

Ministers and high-level representatives addressed in more detail the progress in the implementation of the PCC Prüm Agreement – a new legal framework signed in 2018 to enable EU-inspired automated exchange of DNA, dactyloscopic data and vehicle registration data. In view of the first operational exchanges anticipated to start in 2024 among ready non-EU and EU Signatories of the Agreement, the Committee of Ministers encouraged all non-EU PCC SEE Contracting Parties to, where still required, timely establish the required connection to the TESTA network and build the necessary organizational and technical capacities to begin with the exchange of all three data categories as soon as possible.  

The discussion underlined the persisting need for intensified cooperation and coordination between all actors involved in the implementation of both the PCC SEE and PCC Prüm Agreement, including an enhanced cooperation with the supporting EU agencies and other international and regional organizations.

The Committee of Ministers welcomed Mr. Peter Eglauer as the new Acting Head of the PCC SEE Secretariat.