On 28 October, the European Commission published the Feasibility Study on Law Enforcement Training in the EU – the first comprehensive overview of training for law enforcement across the EU since 2013.
Law enforcement training plays a key role in strengthening the EU’s internal security, both through training within the EU and through cooperation with partners beyond its borders. The study highlights how the training at EU level helps translate EU tools into operational practice and support effective cross-border cooperation. It also underlines the need for stronger coordination and a more coherent EU-level approach to training.
The study maps the law enforcement training landscape across three levels that complement each other:
- national – around 507 training programmes;
- regional – around 104 training programmes (involving two or more EU countries);
- EU – around 258 training programmes.
Training at the EU level plays a significant role in this landscape. It helps fill gaps where national training capacities are limited, supports cross-border operational work, and provides expertise on EU tools and instruments such as the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Enty-Exit System (EES) and the Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA). It also helps build trust among law enforcement officers across borders, strengthening professional networks across the EU and beyond.
The study shows only around 20% of operational authorities in EU consider current EU law enforcement training sufficient, while approximately 170,000 law enforcement officials across the EU still require training. The training landscape remains fragmented, underlining the importance of stronger coordination, closer cooperation, and a more strategic approach at EU level.
In this context, the study points to a sustainable model of CEPOL, the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training, placing it at the heart of coordination within the European law enforcement training community. It also highlights the value of building on CEPOL’s cooperation beyond the EU, where training and knowledge-sharing with partners can contribute to addressing shared security challenges. Through its training and activities with international partners, CEPOL already contributes to EU security by:
- Enhancing situational awareness of developments in neighbouring countries;
- Promoting two-way learning, enabling expertise to be shared both from and within the EU;
- Building long-term, trusted partnerships that strengthen cooperation and contribute to the EU’s security.
