Feb
28
5th Meeting of the Committee of Ministers
The fifth meeting of the Committee of Ministers, organised under the auspices of the Moldovan Chairmanship-in-Office and co-organised by PCC SEE Secretariat, was held on 28 February 2011 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The meeting was convened on the margins of the 8th Annual Ministerial Review Conference on Cooperation in the Field of Border Security. In attendance were Ministers responsible for home affairs and authorised representatives from the Contracting Parties as well as representatives from Austria, France, Slovenia, Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, European Commission, European Parliament, General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, CEPOL, EUROJUST, FRONTEX, DCAF and SECI Center.
The outcomes of the meeting, chaired by the Moldovan Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Alexei Roibu, and co-chaired by the Head of PCC SEE Secretariat, Mr. Anton Travner, are as follows:
The Committee of Ministers welcomed the priorities of the Moldovan Chairmanship-in-Office and wished them much success during their mandate. They also welcomed the priorities of the upcoming Montenegrin Chairmanship of PCC SEE during the second half of 2011, assessing their proposals as useful and consistent.
The Committee of Ministers endorsed the report by the Expert Working Group, acknowledged the work of all experts involved and encouraged them to continue with their excellent method of approach. They emphasised that the members of the Expert Working Group are mandated by their respective Ministers responsible for home affairs and that they present the official positions of the Contracting Parties represented.
The Committee of Ministers adopted the Decision on the Classification Level of the Police Cooperation Convention Manual, a document found to be a useful tool for police practitioners and for training and education purposes.
The Committee of Ministers discussed the introduction of the post-visa liberalisation monitoring mechanism for the Western Balkan countries. The discussion followed in accordance with the discussion paper in question, amended accordingly by the Expert Working Group. The main content of the discussion paper was a proposal for concrete activities, the role of PCC SEE Secretariat in this monitoring mechanism and four questions All eight Contracting Parties to the Convention positively responded to the questions posed in the discussion paper. They agreed on the following:
• PCC SEE shall be used as a regional tool for supporting the post-visa liberalisation monitoring mechanism;
• PCC SEE Secretariat shall serve as a platform both for strategic information exchange and coordination, based on the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation and Support regarding PCC SEE Secretariat. While PCC SEE Secretariat will thus bring a “regional voice” to the process, its involvement shall not interfere in any way with the activities conducted by Europol, Frontex and the European Commission;
• The proposed activities PCC SEE Secretariat can undertake are in accordance with the interest of the Contracting Parties,
• A specialised working group, in accordance with the Committee of Ministers Rules of Procedure, shall be established.