Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies in cooperation with TAIEX organized a two day workshop on "Preventing falsification and misuse of ID documents". The workshop was attended by 65 participants took 48 of them from Bosnia and Herzegovina (all police agencies, support agencies, the Department for Foreigners and IDDEEA) and 17 participants from the region (Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and marri center ).
The aim of the Workshop was to strengthen capacities of the institutions responsible for prevention of falsification and misuse of ID documents in the Western Balkans. In addition, the Workshop aimed at sharing best practices of EU Member States and reinforcing regional and European cooperation in this respect. The possibility of establishing a regional specimen database of authentic and false ID documents was also discussed.
Special attention was paid to plans to develop one or more EU registers of travel and ID documents, as indicated in the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on improved effectiveness, enhanced interoperability and synergies among European databases in the area of Justice and Home Affairs
During the workshop, there were exposed the nine themes of the six experts from France, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Serbia. There were also numerous discussions that resulted in the general conclusions, namely: a) the need to strengthen the existing regional offices, as well as the creation of new one for information exchange; b) the need for a common approach for building cooperation between Member States of MARRI and SEPCA, in the establishment and use of database- established at international airports and border crossings; c) the importance of standardization of forms for producing identification documents at the regional and international levels; d) the need for the establishment of national and/or regional specimens base of identification documents and specific counterfeit; e) the need for continuous improvement and international cooperation; f) the importance of data protection and protection of identity documents, and the like.
The workshop was rated highly successful, with the belief that exchanged experiences and contacts established will contribute to a more successful fight against various forms of misuse of identification documents, and coordination, communication and cooperation in opposition will become more efficient.