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On 11 April 2008, Jože Romšek, Director-General of the Slovenian Police, together with Aleksander Jevšek, Head of the Criminal Police Directorate, and Rajko Kozmelj, Assistant Director in the Criminal Police Directorate, chaired a one-day strategic meeting of the European Police Chiefs Task Force at the Council building in Brussels .

"We must step up efforts to improve the situation as regards interoperability of public safety mobile radio systems, with a view to enhancing the efficiency of cross-border communications between the police forces of the Member States. It is of the utmost importance that we focus efforts at EU level on identifying and coordinating the technical requirements of police forces which will enable us in time to meet the operational expectations of our officers in the field," said Jože Romšek, Director-General of the Slovenian Police, at the meeting.

EPCTF

The European Police Chiefs' Task Force is a forum consisting of the most senior representatives of the police forces of the Member States, in which strategic decisions important for the coordinated operation of police forces in the EU are taken at the highest level. The task force discusses challenges and difficulties facing the police in the EU and attempts to find adequate solutions. The composition of the task force is a guarantee that the decisions adopted will be implemented without reservations or unnecessary delays.

Before the Member State police chiefs and their delegations, as well as representatives of Europol and the European Commission, Slovenian police experts presented a series of new proposals and solutions that will undoubtedly improve the efficiency of the work of European police forces and cooperation between them.

Participants discussed common strategic issues affecting all Member States police forces, i.e. new technologies and their significance for police units, communication monitoring and the interoperability of police systems.

In addition, the manual of good practice in the operation of international police cooperation services was discussed. Chairman of the task force, Jože Romšek, highlighted in particular the counter-terrorism activities of the task force, cooperation with third-countries in the field of home affairs, and activities related to certain legislative instruments that are being adopted at the level of the Justice and Home Affairs Council. By way of conclusion, the Slovenian Presidency informed the European police chiefs of the outcome and conclusions of some important meetings that have thus far been organised under the Slovenian Presidency.

In its endeavours to further strengthen cooperation between Member State police forces, the Slovenian Presidency has received wide support from EU police chiefs as regards its continued activities in the field of interoperability of police systems and communication monitoring. Furthermore, EU police chiefs gave backing to the activities of the Slovenian Presidency in the area of the Western Balkans, especially activities aimed at intensifying cooperation with the police services of those countries and transferring EU security standards to Western Balkan countries, an action which represents a significant step forward towards our common goal of establishing an area of security and stability.