The European Union is a union of 27 member states in Europe. EuroCOP cooperates with practically all institutions of the EU including the European Commission, The Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
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EuroCOP is affiliated to the European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC since November 2005. EuroCOP takes active part in ETUC’s Executive Committee meetings, which take place once every two months in Brussels. |
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The Council of Europe was set up on May 5th 1949 by 10 countries as an intergovernmental political organisation to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout the whole of Europe. It has 47 member states. Its headquarters are located in Strasbourg, France. EuroCOP enjoys participatory status as an Independent Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) at the Council of Europe. It takes part of the Conference of INGOs, which occur four times a year and is a member of the Human Rights Grouping, which deals with among other the European Social Charter. The INGO conferences serve as an important forum of exchange and platform from which to further EuroCOP's work within Europe. The participatory status granted to EuroCOP in 2004 strengthens EuroCOP’s voice in the Council of Europe and enables EuroCOP to have more of an influence in matters related to the organisation’s interests. EuroCOP’s focus as far as the Council of Europe is concerned is implementing the Social Charter and The Code of Police Ethics. The European Social Charter guarantees social and economic human rights and covers a broad range of individual rights for example fair working conditions and equality at the work place. It was adopted in 1961 and revised in 1996. The implementation of the Social Charter is monitored on an annual basis through national reports. If a violation against the charter has occurred a collective complaint can be filed. EuroCOP, as a NGO with participatory status at the Council of Europe, is one of the actors that may do so. Another important reason for EuroCOP to be involved in the Council of Europe is The European Code of Police Ethics adopted in 2001. The European Code of Police Ethics enshrines the basic principles that should apply to police services in democratic societies governed by the rule of law. It is more than a traditional code of ethics; it provides a general organisational framework for the police, their place in the criminal justice system, their objectives, performance and accountability. Some parts of the text are intended to serve as model provisions for national legislation and codes of conduct as well as principles for ethical policing. Find out more: |
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Cepol The European Police College (Cepol) is a European Union Agency established in 2005. Its mission is to bring together senior police officers from police forces in Europe and form a network for them as well as encouraging cross-border cooperation in the fight against crime, public security and law and order by organising training activities and research findings. It is based in Bramshill, England. EuroCOP has invited guest speakers from Cepol to speak at its Conferences. Europol The European Police Office (Europol) has a very different task from EuroCOP, even thought its names sound similar. Europol provides investigative support to member states’ police services on cross-border crimes and assists them during national operations. It enables information exchanges between European Union countries, provides expertise and support and works to fight terrorism. Europol deals with very hands-on fighting crime across the border, whereas EuroCOP represents police unions and staff organisations in Europe and deals with police officers ability to perform their tasks properly, among other things. Europol is based in The Hague, Netherlands and was established in 1992.
The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) is an agency of the European Union established to provide assistance and expertise as far as human rights matters go. The agency is based in Vienna and was founded in 2007. Issues it works with on several occasion touch upon the same issues as those of the Council of Europe (non EU-institution) does. These are for example: racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and related intolerance. Frontex The European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex) was created in 2005. It is the external border security agency of the European Union. It was created to integrate national border security systems of EU member states against all kind of threats that could happen on or through the external border of the EU. Its headquarters are in Warsaw, Poland.
OSHA The European Agency for Safety and Health at work (OSHA) was established in 1994 to deal with occupational safety and health issues. Its task is to bring together and share EU’s pool of knowledge and information on safety and health related issues, particularly good prevention practices. The agency develops, analysis and disseminates information about the above issues through developing a network of websites, running campaigns and publishing materials. EuroCOP’s Health and Safety Subcommittee is working together with OSHA on its campaign “Healthy workplaces”. The Agency’s headquarters are located in Bilbao, Spain. |
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Interpol The International Criminal Police Organisation is an intergovernmental organization who works for international police cooperation. Europol is its equivalent within the European Union. ICPRA |
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