A formação das Forças e Serviços de Segurança na União Europeia rumo a uma política europeia de segurança comum

A criminalidade organizada opera cada vez mais em colaboração alargada, elevada mobilidade e grande diversificação nas suas formas de atuar. Após os recentes atentados terroristas em Paris e em Bruxelas as preocupações relacionadas com as ameaças à segurança da União Europeia (UE) estão cada vez mais na agenda política. O objetivo geral desta investigação foi analisar a importância que a formação comum das polícias da UE e o seu papel na Academia Europeia de Polícia (CEPOL) têm para a Guarda Nacional Republicada (GNR), compreendendo a importância desta formação na implementação da Política Comum de Segurança e Defesa (PCSD). Esta investigação procurou uma recolha de informação adequada, possibilitando a compreensão do fenómeno em estudo, adotando uma estratégia de investigação qualitativa, concretizada a partir de uma pesquisa documental e um inquérito por entrevista semiestruturada, cujos dados foram objeto de análise de conteúdo. Como resultado principal destacou-se o diagnóstico que fundamenta eventuais mudanças ou orientações que a GNR possa vir a prosseguir no âmbito da sua posição na CEPOL. Concluiu-se que a prossecução da segurança na UE exige uma adequada articulação entre a segurança interna e a segurança externa, bem como da importância das agências da UE em geral, e em particular, da CEPOL cuja missão de formação comum é essencial. Abstract: Organised crime is increasingly operating in extended collaboration, high mobility and great diversity in their ways of acting. After the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels the concerns about threats to security of the European Union (EU) are increasingly on the political agenda. The general objective of this research was to analyse the importance of common training in the context of the EU's police forces and its role in the European Police College (CEPOL) have in the Portuguese Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), understanding the importance of this training in the implementation of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). This research looked for a collection of adequate information, adopting a qualitative research strategy, enabled the understanding of the phenomenon under study, adopting a qualitative research strategy, implemented from desk research and a survey by semistructured interviews, whose data were subject to content analysis. The main result highlighted the diagnosis set that underlies any changes or guidelines that GNR is likely to continue in its position on CEPOL. It was concluded that further security in the EU requires proper coordination between internal security and external security, and the importance of EU agencies in general, and in particular CEPOL whose common training mission is essential.

Cooperação Internacional

A Força de Gendarmerie Europeia ergueu-se na esfera dos países da União Europeia com forças de polícia de estatuto militar, tipo gendarmerie, com o propósito de proporcionar uma ferramenta de cooperação internacional que permitira aumentar a capacidade de gestão de crises e contribuir para o desenvolvimento da identidade europeia de segurança e defesa, bem como para o reforço da Política Comum de Segurança e Defesa. Depois de dez anos passados após a plena capacidade operacional, interessa avaliar se a Organização constitui verdadeiramente um instrumento eficaz, eficiente e proveitoso para os seus Estados-Membros e para as principais organizações internacionais, bem como ponderar o seu impacto na ação externa da União Europeia. Com este objetivo, desenvolveu-se uma investigação qualitativa recorrendo ao raciocínio hipotético-dedutivo. Esquadrinharam-se questões de natureza descritiva e interpretativa, conferindo uma importância especial aos contributos facilitados pelos entrevistados, dotados de destacada relevância profissional na esfera da cooperação policial internacional. Constata-se no estudo que a Força de Gendarmerie Europeia constitui um instrumento útil para a cooperação internacional, oferecendo capacidades operacionais bem-sucedidas assentes no treino permanente, na interoperabilidade com os atores participantes e na capacidade de resposta rápida a situações de crise. Abstract: The European Gendarmerie Force stood up in the background of European Union countries with military status police forces, gendarmerie type, in order to provide a tool for international cooperation increasing crisis management capacities and contributing to the development of the European security and defence identity, in addition to strengthening the Common European Security and Defence Policy. Ten years after achieving full operational capability, it is intended to assess if the Organization actually performs an effective, efficient and profitable instrument for its Member States and the main international organizations, as well as considering its impact on external action of the European Union. With that aim, a qualitative research was developed using the hypothetical-deductive reasoning. Descriptive and interpretative issues were scoured, giving special importance to contributions provided by respondents with outstanding professional background in international police cooperation sphere. The study reveals that the European Gendarmerie Force is a useful tool for international cooperation, providing successful operational capabilities settled in permanent training, interoperability with the participating actors and in a rapid response capability to crisis situations.

Promoting peace and security in Africa : is the European Union up to the challenge?

The ninth annual Suomenlinna seminar, organised by the Department of Strategic and Defence Studies, Finnish National Defence College, was held in May 2006. It brought together a representative group of specialists in security studies for two days of presentations and discussion about the most pressing issues of today – the challenges facing European Union’s crisis management in Africa.

Privacy and security enhanced offline oblivious transfer for massive data distribution

Unauthorized accesses to digital contents are serious threats to international security and informatics. We propose an offline oblivious data distribution framework that preserves the sender's security and the receiver's privacy using tamper-proof smart cards. This framework provides persistent content protections from digital piracy and promises private content consumption.

New developments of peace research: The impact of recent campaigns on disarmament and human security

The present text, based on previous work done by the authors on peace research (Grasa 1990 and 2010) and the disarmament campaigns linked to Human Security (Alcalde 2009 and 2010), has two objectives. First, to present a new agenda for peace research, based on the resolution/transformation of conflicts and the promotion of collective action in furtherance of human security and human development. Second, to focus specifically on collective action and on a positive reading of some of the campaigns that have taken place during the last decades in order to see how the experiences of such will affect the future agenda for peace research and action for peace.

Sharing and Learning= Changing. A real story at the Institute of Public Security of Catalonia

The Institute has professionals with extensive experience in training, specifically with experience in the field of police and emergencies training. Moreover, it also has very talented people. But above all, our institution has public professionals with a desire to serve, who love security and emergency responders and want to provide them with the best knowledge to make them every day better professionals. In the quest for continuous training improvement, its during 2009 when e-learning begins to have a presence at the Institute. Virtual training methodology becomes a facilitator for the training of various professionals, avoiding geographical displacement and easing the class schedule.

Software Security Design and Testing

Elektroninen kaupankäynti ja pankkipalvelut ovat herättäneet toiminnan jatkuvuuden kannalta erittäin kriittisen kysymyksen siitä, kuinka näitä palveluja pystytään suojaamaan järjestäytynyttä rikollisuutta ja erilaisia hyväksikäyttöjä vastaan.

Security Authentication using Phase-Encoded Nanoparticle Structures and Polarized Light

Phase encoded nano structures such as Quick Response (QR) codes made of metallic nanoparticles are suggested to be used in security and authentication applications. We present a polarimetric optical method able to authenticate random phase encoded QR codes. The system is illuminated using polarized light and the QR code is encoded using a phase-only random mask. Using classification algorithms it is possible to validate the QR code from the examination of the polarimetric signature of the speckle pattern. We used Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test and Support Vector Machine algorithms to authenticate the phase encoded QR codes using polarimetric signatures.

The fog of cyber defence

The Fog of Cyber Defence is a book about cyberspace, cyber security and cyberwar. The book is untangling the ties of the Nordic states with the important, yet complex and foggy phenomenon of cyber. It is adding important perspectives into the ongoing discussion about cyber security and creating room for the deepening of co-operation amongst the Nordic states. The articles in the book contribute to the debate over the implications of cyber for national security and the armed forces. The authors, who come from various professional backgrounds, appreciate and welcome further discussion and comments on the very important themes that impact our everyday lives.

Towards sustainable peace : peace-building and human security

Failed and fragile states that result from intrastate war pose severe threats to the security of both the international system and individual states alike. In the post-Cold War era, the international community has come to recognize the reality of these threats and the difficulty involved in ending violence and building sustainable peace in failed and fragile states. This work focuses upon the development of a comprehensive strategy for sustainable peace-building by incorporating the tenets of the human security doctrine into the peace-building process. Through the use of case studies of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and East Timor, the development and refinement of the doctrine of human security will occur, as well as, an understanding of how and where human security fits into the sustainable peace-building equation. The end result of the analysis is the development of a hierarchical pyramid formation that brings together human security and peace-building into one framework that ultimately creates the foundation and structure of sustainable peace-building. With the development of a sustainable peace-building structure based upon the human security doctrine, the role of Canada in the support of sustainable peace-building is analyzed in relation to the form and level of involvement that Canada undertakes and contributes to in the implementation and support of sustainable peace-building initiatives. Following from this, recommendations are provided regarding what role(s) Canada should undertake in the sustainable peace-building process that take into consideration the present and likely future capabilities of Canada to be involved in various aspects of the peace-building process. ii This paper outlines the need for a peace-building strategy that is designed to be sustainable in order that failed and fragile states resulting from intrastate conflict do not regress or collapse back into a condition of civil war, and subsequently designs such a strategy. The linking of peace-building and human security creates the required framework from which sustainable peace-building is derived. Creating sustainable peace is necessary in order to increase the likelihood that both present and future generations existing in failed and fragile states will be spared from the scourge of intrastate war.

A Prototype for a Multimodal Biometric Security system based on Face and Audio Signatures

Any automatically measurable, robust and distinctive physical characteristic or personal trait that can be used to identify an individual or verify the claimed identity of an individual, referred to as biometrics, has gained significant interest in the wake of heightened concerns about security and rapid advancements in networking, communication and mobility. Multimodal biometrics is expected to be ultra-secure and reliable, due to the presence of multiple and independent—verification clues. In this study, a multimodal biometric system utilising audio and facial signatures has been implemented and error analysis has been carried out. A total of one thousand face images and 250 sound tracks of 50 users are used for training the proposed system. To account for the attempts of the unregistered signatures data of 25 new users are tested. The short term spectral features were extracted from the sound data and Vector Quantization was done using K-means algorithm. Face images are identified based on Eigen face approach using Principal Component Analysis. The success rate of multimodal system using speech and face is higher when compared to individual unimodal recognition systems

EU Home Affairs Agencies and the Construction of EU Internal Security. CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security No. 53/December 2012

Regulatory agencies such as Europol, Frontex, Eurojust, CEPOL as well as bodies such as OLAF, have over the past decade become increasingly active within the institutional architecture constituting the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice and are now placed at the forefront of implementing and developing the EU’s internal security model. A prominent feature of agency activity is the large-scale proliferation of ‘knowledge’ on security threats via the production of policy tools such as threat assessments, risk analyses, periodic and situation reports. These instruments now play a critical role in providing the evidence-base that supports EU policymaking, with agency-generated ‘knowledge’ feeding political priority setting and decision-making within the EU’s new Internal Security Strategy (ISS). This paper examines the nature and purpose of knowledge generated by EU Home Affairs agencies. It asks where does this knowledge originate? How does it measure against criteria of objectivity, scientific rigour, reliability and accuracy? And how is it processed in order to frame threats, justify actions and set priorities under the ISS?

Does the Stockholm Programme matter? The struggles over ownership of AFSJ multiannual programming. CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security No. 51/December 2012

Does the 2009 Stockholm Programme matter? This paper addresses the controversies experienced at EU institutional levels as to ‘who’ should have ownership of the contours of the EU’s policy and legislative multiannual programming in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) in a post-Lisbon Treaty landscape. It examines the struggles around the third multiannual programme on the AFSJ, i.e. the Stockholm Programme, and the dilemmas affecting its implementation. The latest affair to emerge relates to the lack of fulfilment by the European Commission of the commitment to provide a mid-term evaluation of the Stockholm Programme’s implementation by mid-2012, as requested by both the Council and the European Parliament. This paper shifts the focus to a broader perspective and raises the following questions: Is the Stockholm Programme actually relevant? What do the discussions behind its implementation tell us about the new institutional dynamics affecting European integration on the AFSJ? Does the EU actually need a new (post- Stockholm) multiannual programme for the period 2015–20? And last, what role should the EP play in legislative and policy programming in order to further strengthen the democratic accountability and legitimacy of the EU’s AFSJ?