Strengthening the Fight Against Cross Border Crime and Irregular Migration through the Establishment of a Police and Customs Cooperation Centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina

BiH and the South-East Europe region remains a major transit route for irregular migrants as well as for the illegal smuggling of goods and trafficking of human beings, drugs, weapons and stolen vehicles. The capacity of government agencies in the region is growing but still needs to be strengthened to deal with well-organised criminal groups and a lack of regional cooperation on data exchange. The capacities of the relevant authorities in BiH are relevant but need to be further supported to respond to this phenomenon especially in relation to the cooperation with neighbouring states.

In this context, this project will contribute to enhancing police cooperation in the fight against trans-border crime and other crime related phenomena, by replicating the successful EU model of Police and Customs Cooperation Centres (PCCCs) and establishing the first centre of this kind outside the Schengen area, at Trebinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina. PCCCs constitute an innovative and effective tool for increasing international cross-border police cooperation. The establishment of a PCCC will introduce an effective system for identifying and combating cross-border transgressions in full compliance with Schengen border security standards, thus creating a structure that will remain wholly practical subsequent to EU accession. In this context, the project will serve to align the systems of border management in the region to comply with the EU acquis, a central objective for BiH in its bid for EU accession.