At its meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999, the European Council agreed that a European Police College, hereinafter referred to as ‘CEPOL’, should be established to train senior officers of police forces.

Civilian crisis management operations have four priority fields of action, established by the Feira European Council: the police, the rule of law, civilian protection and civilian administration.

Following the conclusions of the European Council of Florence on 21/22 June 1996, the Protocol determines the conditions under which the Court of Justice of the European Communities shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings on the interpretation of the Convention on the establishment of the European Police Office.

After the Amsterdam Treaty entered into force, the European Council of Tampere added a number of important measures to be implemented in the area of police co-operation. The main ones were the establishment of a European police chiefs' operational task force to i.a. contribute to the planning of operative actions; a call to enable Europol to participate in investigation teams and to ask Member States to start investigations; and the establishment of ...[+++]a European Police College for the training of senior police officials.

The group's other members are: Mr Giuseppe Airoldi I Vice-President for training activities, University of Bocconi Former Director of Human Resources Development, SDA-Bocconi Member of research institute management boards Coordinator of numerous research projects concerning company organisation Mrs Marla Ambrosio P Professor, Lisbon Technical University In-depth knowledge of relationship between training and technological innovation Expert on Community training programmes (EUROTECNET) Mr Wenceslas F Holds major position in training body linked to top Baudrillard industrial undertaking in electronics sector (Thomson) Formerly responsible f ...[+++]or social policies within Prime Minister's office Mr Erhard Busek A Former Austrian Education Minister Responsible for key reforms of Austrian education system Member of IDM Institute Mr François Cornelis B Director of Petrofina Responsible for activities of industrialists' round-table on education and training Specialist in human resources management Mr Stig Hagstrom S Chancellor of "Swedish University and College System" President of Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences Member of Swedish Government's Research Advisory Board Mr Ian Johnston UK Vice-Chancellor, Sheffield University Formerly in charge of education and training at Department of Employment Mrs Kerstin Thoursie S Labour market specialist Mrs Hélene Lund DK Actively involved at Danish municipal authority level Specialist in relations between education and regions Numerous activities for Council of Europe on adult education Mrs Beatriz ES Professor, Madrid University Munoz-Seca Specialist in human resources Expert work for Commission on training in SMEs (FORCE) Mrs Britta Naumann D Specialist in industrial relations and collective bargaining Member of European Trade Union Committee Member of "Status of Women" Committee, Education International Member of GEW Executive Mr Orlol Homs ES Professor, Barcelona Specialist in industrial relations and links between innova ...

At the European Social Conference in Paris on 30 March 1995, the social partners, the European Confederation of Trade Unions, UNICE and the European Association of Craft and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises showed that they were prepared to play their full part in implementing the conclusions of the Essen European Council.