The CyberSEE joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe organised its second Project Steering Committee meeting, in Strasbourg, France, on 10 December 2024.
The meeting gathered representatives from the European Commission, the Council of Europe and delegates of the criminal justice authorities of all project countries/area to discuss and assess the achievements in the second half of 2024 and to adopt the strategic priorities for the upcoming period.
In the opening of the meeting, the representative of the European Commission emphasized: “The Council of Europe is playing a crucial role in combating cybercrime, so the European Commission is supporting countries in signing the Second Additional Protocol (2AP) to the Budapest Convention and it will soon focus on developing rules for e-evidence and OCSEA.” The Head of Operations of the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe added: “The region will also benefit from instruments developed by the T-CY on critical topics like VASP and cryptocurrencies, as well as tools developed by the CyberSPEX project for the implementation of 2AP.”
The activity provided a platform for sharing updates, developments and progress made by each project country/area. The representatives of countries signatories to the 2AP expressed strong commitment to implementing its provisions by creating working groups and preparing roadmaps for legal amendments to domestic criminal laws. Delegates from police units and prosecution offices shared case studies and examples of good practices for confiscating cryptocurrencies, investigating investment frauds and OCSEA. They also emphasized the need to enhance the capacities of local police units for handling cyber-enabled crimes, allowing central cybercrime departments to focus on high-profile cases.
For the next period the focus will be given to the legislative reforms in view of the implementation of the 2AP and guidance for drafting national cybercrime strategies. Additionally, the project will continue to support the development of sustainable training programs by judicial and police training institutions and activities such as those organised by the Albanian Police under the EMPACT framework and the Serbian Ministry of Interior under the SEPCA presidency.
The Steering Committee meeting achieved its expected objectives and concluded by the strong commitment of the CyberSEE project to continue supporting South-East Europe and Türkiye in addressing the challenges posed by cybercrime and electronic evidence through capacity building actions.
Cybercrime Programme Office (C-PROC)