Information from the Commission - Sherlock Programme: Annual Programme for 1998
28. 2. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 65/23 III (Notices) COMMISSION SHERLOCK PROGRAMME: ANNUAL PROGRAMME FOR 1998 (98/C 65/08) 1. The broad outlines of the programme On 29 October 1996 the Council adopted the Sherlock programme, a programme of training, exchanges and cooperation in the field of identity documents (Joint Action 96/637/JHA - OJ LØ288, 8. 11. 1996, p. 7). It applies to the 15 Member States of the European Union and also contains provision for non member countries to be associated where that meets the objectives of the programme. The programme covers the period from 1996 to 2000 and the financial reference amount for implementing it is ECU 5 million. The general objective of the programme is to make the action taken to combat the forging or falsifying of identity documents more effective, and to make such documents easier to detect, by stepping up cooperation between government departments in the Member States. To achieve this, the Sherlock programme is to set up operations in the following areas: - training for officials responsible for carrying out instructors, and checks, especially training high level training for specialists; basic training for officials will remain the responsibility of the Member States; for - exchanges of officials between Member States, long for practical, the methods, enough on the spot procedures and techniques used; familiarisation with fortnight) than a (more - research into forged documents, primarily for the purpose of producing teaching aids (control manuals information facilities (document exchange etc. ) or "technical’ systems), excluding any form of more research into the actual production of documents (chemical aspects or in electronic or physical form etc. ). The projects are selected by a Management Committee on which all the Member States are represented; it is chaired by the Commission. To qualify for funding, projects must be of European interest and involve at least three Member countries, particularly those which have applied to join the Union, may be associated with such projects provided that would be useful for the purposes of the programme. States. NonÜmember 2. Programme structure, areas of operation in 1998 and budgets The aims of the Sherlock programme remain specific, in that they relate to a very sensitive area and, more often than not, require a technical approach and measures to protect confidentiality, so that the programme is left primarily up to government departments in the Member States and their specialist departments. However, past experience and the lessons drawn from implementing the projects selected under the 1996 and 1997 programme show that the programme now needs to be fine tuned, with a more specialised approach to the priority areas and some degree of assessment incorporated. A number of matters have been explored at previous seminars, and areas such as exchanges of officials are now covered by projects which go beyond the annual framework and are a way of responding satisfactorily to the needs which officials from the Member States have expressed. Without abandoning this overall approach completely, we think it would be advisable not to attach such high priority to certain operations as at the start of the programme. Meanwhile there are other areas which have still not been properly explored, and more space clearly needs to be devoted to the topical questions confronting the Member States, to which the facilities the programme offers enable rapid and specific answers to be given. Lastly - and this is a feature which all the programmes managed by the Commission share - increasing space has to be earmarked for evaluating the exercises carried out as part of the programme. With these thoughts in mind, and from our observation of the situation in the various areas concerned and of the work done by the specific groups, we propose that the 1998 programme address itself to the following areas of operation, with an estimated overall budget of ECU 1 million: C 65/24 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 2. 98 Area of operation (a) - Training: This remains a high priority area under the joint action. The trend must be towards greater specialisation. One component should address itself to disseminating training and information, so that the teaching aids devised during previous operations can be overhauled to latest developments in areas relating to false documents. instil familiarity with the Area of operation (b) - Topical issues: Here it is a matter of responding to needs as they arise, on specific questions which confront influxes of immigrants, the emergence of new ways of falsifying documents, unfamiliar new practices, new technology and so on). the Member States (mass Area of operation (c) - Cooperation with countries applying for membership. These countries have displayed their interest in the scheme by consistently attending the various seminars with which they are associated in 1997. We could types of their enthusiasm with other encourage exercise (training and exchange of officials). Efforts will be made to make sure these complement other programmes under Title VI and other Community assistance programmes, particularly falling within the across the board Phare programme (JHA). those Area of operation (d) - Evaluation: This for is a priority area the Commission in managing the programmes for which it is responsible. The 1998 programme is the third budgetary year for the Sherlock programme, so evaluating it could be a useful exercise, to ensure that the measures taken match the specifications of the programme. Area of operation (e) - Other under eligible measures Sherlock programme: This means measures falling within the general programme which are not actually a priority but could individually be of special interest to the Member States. the The estimated budgets for meeting these priorities are as follows: (in ecus) Area of operation Budget estimate (a) Training (b) Topical issues (c) Cooperation with applicant countries (d) Evaluation (e) Other eligible measures 300Ø000 300Ø000 250Ø000 75Ø000 75Ø000 Total 1Ø000 000 3. Potentially projects interested parties and submission of Parties which might potentially be interested are, basically, government departments in the Member States responsible for checking identity documents, as well as other departments, e. g. staff training. We should not rule other applicants out, however, particularly where they are working in areas related to the objectives of the programme. those responsible for The memorandum on the financing of Title VI, of which a revised version issued at the beginning of 1997 is available in all the official languages, gives the requisite details of the procedure for submitting projects and has attached to it a standard application form with precise instructions for drafting the financial statement. Those interested are advised to refer to that document when drawing up projects. Projects for financing from the 1998 budget must reach the Commission by 31 March 1998 and should be sent to the following address: Mr Wenceslas de Lobkowicz Chairman of the Sherlock Programme Management Committee, Mr Arnaud Cochet, Committee Secretary, European Commission, SecretariatÜGeneral, Justice and Home Affairs Task Force Unit 1, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200, Room NÜ9 5/27A, BÜ1049 Brussels; Tel: (32Ü2) 296Ø67 46, fax: (32Ü2) 296Ø59 97