UNODC Participates in 24th Meeting of the PCC SEE Committee of Ministers

 

13 November 2023, Belgrade, Serbia: Under the auspices of the Serbian Chairmanship of the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe, the PCC SEE Committee of Ministers convened in the presence of observers from UNODC, European Commission, CEPOL, EUROPOL, ICMPD, IOM, JCP, MARRI and RAI Secretariat.

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 real-time 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 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, including enhanced cooperation with the supporting EU agencies and other international and regional organizations.

The UNODC representative at this meeting highlighted the transnational nature of organized crime and pointed out that the PCC Prüm Agreement was complementary to the work of the UNODC Regional Programme for South-Eastern Europe and its Border Programme.