On 16 September 2022, the certified CEPA course 2022 was concluded at a graduation ceremony with the presentation of certificates in Budapest at the Centre for International Training.

This course started on 01 August 2022 in Prague. The final week of this course took place in Budapest from 11 to 16 September 2022.

26 police practitioners from all seven CEPA member countries had the opportunity to participate in this MEPA training at the following locations: Prague (CZ), Wiesbaden (D), Vienna (A), Bern (CH), Ljubljana (SLO), Bratislava (SK) and Budapest (H). 

The focus of this further training was on conveying and deepening investigation and combating strategies in the field of cross-border / international criminal police cooperation.  For the first time, this further training was conducted with the aim of achieving a qualification assigned to level 5 of the Austrian Qualifications Framework (corresponding to level 5 of the European Qualifications Framework).

During the course, the participants worked on a case study on the main topic area "Economic crime exploiting the internet/money laundering". The written work was assessed by the workshop supervisors and the examination board chaired by the Vice President of the German Police University, Mr. Uwe Marquardt, on 14.09.2022. The results of the case study were then presented to an international panel and the examination board on 15 September in Budapest. Afterwards, the participants had to face the oral questions of the examination board.

To everyone's delight, all 26 participants completed the training positively. According to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), 16 European Credits (EC) can be credited after positive completion of this CEPA training and attainment of the qualification "CEPA Course - Prevention of and Fight against Transnational Crime", certified according to EQF/NQF Level 5.

The written results of the case study will be made available to all investigators in the CEPA countries, which means that also those police officers who did not participate in the course can benefit from the results. In addition, the results will be available for download in the Insider on the CEPA homepage.

During the ceremonial speech, which was held this year by Mr. Stefan Aegerter, Director of the Swiss Police Institute, he mentioned the importance of CEPA in international police cooperation and expressed his joy and appreciation that all 26 participants had obtained the mentioned qualification.

The meeting of the course leaders of the CEPA countries also took place during the closing week. Besides evaluating the results of the current certified course, the experts and MEPA representatives set the first concrete tasks for the next certified CEPA course in 2023.