Remarks by Dr Renzo Daviddi, Deputy Head of Delegation, at the launch event of the Electronic Data exchange system of police and prosecutor registries, held at the Directorate for Coordination of police bodies.

Dear Ministers, distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Real-time up-to-date data is the lifeblood of police work. The success of police investigation depends on the availability of global data, close cooperation between police authorities and close cooperation with the prosecution. By setting up the electronic data exchange system you have given yourself a tool for success and you have given police cooperation in this country a meaning. Let me congratulate you to this achievement – and let me put it into the broader picture of what we have been setting out to achieve a year ago.

A year ago, when we were launching the EU Support to Law Enforcement project, we said that it is high time for BiH authorities to take ownership of the rule of law agenda of this country and to tackle the challenges in view of the EU accession perspective – in particular with regard to fighting organised crime and corruption, strengthening regional and international cooperation and police and justice cooperation.

By setting up the electronic data exchange system law enforcement and judiciary institutions have demonstrated ownership. Yes, the EU has funded the central part of the system – but so have all of you on your ends. And more important – you have made it work.

I understand that this was not an easy task. Exchange of data requires a certain quality and uniformity of records – but beyond that, it requires mutual trust and confidence. Furthermore, by setting up the electronic data exchange system you have demonstrated that structural fragmentation can be overcome in a spirit of cooperation. But let us be clear, real achievements have to pass the test of time. Just as this system will have to prove that it will be used and remain functional (let me ensure you that we will closely watch out for that) – clearly, cooperation is not a onetime event. It has to become a long term pattern in order to meet the demands imposed by an ever more complex environment.

Now, how does this link into the broader picture of the priorities we have set out to achieve a year ago? Let me point to three of them:

First, the fight against organised crime and corruption. Creating a track record of successfully targeting serious and organised crime and corruption is one of the main challenges BiH will face on its way into the European Union. This requires a solid information base about the situation in the country and beyond. A systemic analysis of law enforcement information on criminal activities and groups is a precondition for prioritising threats from organised crime and corruption to the society and to act accordingly. You have started to produce a Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment opting to follow the Europol methodology to do so and through our IPA projects and the EUSR advisors for Home Affairs and Public security we will support you. To produce a Threat assessment of this kind, your capacity to exchange data and information will be challenged ones again. It will require taking a step further in building trust and sharing criminal intelligence. Yet, cooperation at the regional and European level cannot be thought without that readiness to share criminal intelligence. But just as with the data exchange system, building trust is not about words, it is about action. It is about ensuring that data and information cannot be abused. It has to be ensured through adequate access regulations and protection. Strong European standards and regulations regarding the protection of personal data are not only protecting the citizens of abuse of information by the state, they are also thought to help the police to ensure that their data bases are properly secured and not vulnerable to undue access.

Second, integrating strong personal data protection regulations in the Laws on Police Officials therefore is the technical way to ensure trust can become a reality. But without strong political commitment and a commitment of police management to the required efforts it will not be achievable. As this is also one of the major steps to take towards concluding an operational agreement with Europol, this leads me to the (2) second priority I would like to emphasise. This is regional and international cooperation. Bosnia and Herzegovina is still lagging behind when it comes to concluding an operational agreement with Europol. This is not only regrettable from an EU perspective. It also deprives you from having access to the analytical capability Europol is offering to complete your own analysis of threats and how to tackle them. The roadmap towards conclusion of the operational agreement, which was signed by the Ministry of Security and Europol last year, needs to be turned into action. Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot afford to remain quarrelling over how international cooperation shall be organised among the various institutions of the country, while the rest of Europe and the region is moving on fighting crime and protecting states and citizens.

Now let me address the third priority which is improving police and justice cooperation. If joint access to data is the lifeblood of investigations, and analysis is what allows you to target the most important serious and organised crime groups, then Joint Investigation Teams are the instruments for achieving operational cooperation that is necessary to do so. Complex cases require complex cooperation – within the country and beyond. Prosecutors and police, but also tax administrations, the financial intelligence unit and financial investigators have to contribute. This requires stepping up operational cooperation from an informal ad hoc basis to an organised and systematic manner.

To summarise: The picture is not all dark, but Bosnia and Herzegovina has still a long way to go to be able to fully join and become part of the European efforts to tackle crime that is threatening all of us – BiH citizens as well as citizens of the European Union.

Let me be clear: Building trust and cooperation is not a one-sided interest. It is an interest we are sharing in the European Union and beyond – with you.

This joint interest requires concrete action at different levels:

• Political will translated into adequate legislation and an appropriate criminal justice strategy;
• capable and motivated law enforcement agencies to carry out the operational tasks;
• justice services to be able ensure that the rule of law prevails over political or personal interests;
• and last but not least the support of the broader community.

All this is needed to accomplish what we have jointly set out to achieve and what citizens – whether they live, in Sarajevo, Paris, or Riga – are expecting from us: to be able to live their lives, trusting in the rule of law and in the institutions of their states to ensure it.