The European Commission, under the Transition Facility Programme, has made available e56,000 to assist the Police Department increase its capabilities in the effective border control at the external borders of the EU, in line with the parameters stipulated in the Schengen convention.

The eight month project is now finalised. A number of experts from the Italian Sirene Division of the International Police Cooperation Service in Rome delivered training in Malta and shared their expertise to with Maltese officers carrying out duties in the local Sirene Division.

Training delivered to the Maltese officers was aimed to ensure that they gain the required technical, operational and administrative capacity to be able to implement all EU standards, border control activities, intelligence gathering, the operation of SISone4ALL and the SIS II which still has to be revisited.

The Police Department now has the staff knowledgeable on the handling of data and proper IT skills and is fully capable of supporting the daily running of Sirene office.

In order to familiarise themselves with the application of the Schengen Information System, training seminars were also held for the judiciary and customs officers. Assistance during the twinning light also included the preparation and drawing up of a data security police together with a disaster recovery plan.

Police officers from the Maltese Sirene office also had the opportunity to have hands on experience at the Italian Sirene office earlier this year, where an overview of the workflow system was explained to them while they were being trained in a real live environment at the Rome bureau.

Thanks to this assistance, the Police International Relations Unit is now in line with the commitments called for under the Schengen convention, and therefore able to honour its obligations under the convention.