Combating cross-border organised crime through enhanced strategic and operational cooperation between Poland and Norway - Scandinavian Organized Crime Watch (SOC-Watch)
In progress
The project is financed by the "Internal Affairs" Program implemented under the EAA and Norway Grants for 2014-2021. The program is at the disposal of the Minister of the Interior and Administration.
The EEA and Norway Grants
The EEA and Norway Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway towards a green, competitive and inclusive Europe. There are two overall objectives: reduction of economic and social disparities in Europe, and to strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. The three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The donors have provided €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. For the period 2014-2021, the EEA and Norway Grants amount to €2.8 billion. The priorities for this period are:
- Innovation, Research, Education and Competitiveness
- Social Inclusion, Youth Employment and Poverty Reduction
- Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy
- Culture, Civil Society, Good Governance and Fundamental Rights
- Justice and Home Affairs
Eligibility for the Grants mirror the criteria set for the EU Cohesion Fund aimed at member countries where the Gross National Income (GNI) per inhabitant is less than 90% of the EU average. The EEA and Norway Grants scheme consists of two financial mechanisms.
The EEA Grants are jointly financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, whose contributions are based on their GDP. Norway Grants are financed solely by Norway
For more information on The EEA and Norway Grants, please visit: www.norwaygrants.org and www.eog.gov.pl
Project information
Title of the Project:
Combating cross-border organised crime through enhanced strategic and operational cooperation between Poland and Norway -
Scandinavian Organized Crime Watch (SOC-Watch)
Programme:
The Project is implemented under the funds of the Bilateral Cooperation Fund of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.
Value of the project: 685 376 zł
Period of implementation: 01.10.2024 r. – 31.03.2025 r.
The goal of the project is to strengthen and support the strategic and operational cooperation between the Polish and Norwegian police with the purpose of combating organized cross border crime.
To achieve this aim, the project will focus on three key objectives:
- enhancing information sharing: The project will promote and facilitate the exchange of intelligence and information between Polish and Norwegian law enforcement agencies. This will include sharing information on criminal activities, suspects, and trends to better target investigations and operations.
- improving coordination and structures of cooperation: The project aims to establish a common approach to ad hoc and operational/investigative actions on specific cases. By coordinating efforts and pooling resources, Polish and Norwegian police can more effectively combat organised crime across borders.
- building capacity and skills: The project will enhance capacity and skills by offering seminar and workshop sessions for law enforcement officers from both countries seminar and workshop focusing on money laundering and financial crime.
By focusing on these objectives, the bilateral project aims to strengthen and support the strategic and operational cooperation between the Polish and Norwegian police in combating organised cross-border crime. This will help both countries to better protect their citizens and communities from the threats posed by criminal networks operating across borders.
The goal shall be executed through the following activities:
1. Strategic cooperation
The strategic level of the project will involve creation of a Joint Analysis Team that will focus on selection of cases that will be dealt with in the activity 2 – operational cooperation. Additionally the JAT will develop a report on common threats and areas that Poland and Norway could strengthen their cooperation in the future.
The first step in this activity is the strategic expert meeting in Poland. PCBI officers that will be members of the JAT will participate in this meeting. This will be a great opportunity to set goals and objectives for the activities for the joint analysis team.
After the strategic expert meeting both team (PL and NO) can focus on preparing suitable cases to be focused on during the first face-to-face meeting of the JAT in Poland adjacent to the strategic expert meeting.
(This will be followed by online meetings to discuss further developments after operational meeting face-to-face and work on next steps.)
2. Operational cooperation – Joint action days and / or Joint actions / operations
At the operational level, the project will focus on three main activities:
- Facilitating joint actions and meetings that contribute to the exchange of operational information between the two police forces. This collaboration will enhance the effectiveness of investigations and operations targeting organized crime activities that transcend national borders.
- The operational cooperation will also take the form of conducting/carrying out urgent joint actions and operations in Norway and / or Poland based upon operational needs. Any joint operations and actions will be the result of close cooperation in terms of information / intelligence exchange between NCIS and PCBI and the relevant field branches. By sharing intelligence, coordinating efforts, and conducting joint actions and operations based upon urgent operational needs carried out in close cooperation between the polish and Norwegian police force, the law enforcement agencies can disrupt criminal networks and prevent them from operating with impunity.
- Joint action days will be aimed at carrying out checks on for exp. persons, goods and means of transport at sea (ferries, ships, ports) and in the air (airports) with a view to uncovering, for example, wanted persons fleeing from justice, smuggled drugs (in both directions), or property (e.g. large amounts of money).
3. Capacity-building activities
As part of the capacity-building activities between Polish and Norwegian law enforcement agencies, a seminar and workshop focusing on money laundering, financial crime, the FinTech sector, and basic knowledge on financial data analysis will be organized. The seminar can provide a focused and interactive learning environment to equip police officers with the necessary tools and techniques to effectively respond to the evolving challenges in the financial sector.
Workshop will be focused on money laundering in the aspect of drug, economic and organized crime.
