2015 Exercising Mobility in Border Guard Basic Training 2015 Exercising Mobility in Border Guard Basic Training Frontex · Exercising Mobility in Border Guard Basic Training Acknowledgements This brochure, coordinated by Frontex, is a result of a team effort with valuable contributions from Henrik Warnhjelm (Head of the Training Unit), Gheorghe Varban (Project Manager), Catalina Harabagiu-Dimitrescu, Adriana Cojan, Erwin Ritter, Gabriel Sirbu, Mihai Erlik, and Iulian Iftode (IT expert), who collected, selected and edited the information offered here. Frontex is grateful to the participating countries, the national border guard authorities, academies and focal points, and the national training coordinators, together with the hosting and guest officers in the Common Core Curriculum Teacher Mobility and Student Exchange Exercises for their essential contributions and support in the development of the project. Copyright (2016) Frontex All rights reserved. The European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union Plac Europejski 6 PDF version: 00-844 Warsaw, Poland TT-02-16-149-EN-N Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 ISBN 978-92-95205-49-9 Fax. +48 222 05 95 01 doi: 10.2819/594622 [email protected] Print version: www.frontex.europa.eu TT-02-16-149-EN-C ISBN 978-92-95205-48-2 © Frontex, 2016 doi: 10.2819/890493 2 Table of contents FOREWORD #5 TEACHER MOBILITY #9 Common Core Curriculum: Teacher Mobility Exercises #10 Hosting Countries #15 Estonia #17 Lithuania #20 Romania #23 Slovakia #31 Teacher Mobility Exercises #35 STUDENT EXCHANGE #55 Common Core Curriculum: Student Exchange Exercises #57 Hosting Countries #61 Germany #64 Romania #67 1st Student Exchange Exercise #71 Trainers #71 Students #73 2nd Student Exchange Exercise #81 Trainers #81 Students #83 Gallery #90 3 Frontex · Exercising Mobility in Border Guard Basic Training 4 Henrik Warnhjelm Head of the Training Unit In the field of training, Frontex focuses on the development and implementation of common educational standards. Frontex strives to be a promoter of excellence in border guard education and training, as well as a developer and provider of training products of high professional quality and ethical standards. All training activities are carried out in order to support the Member States in the training of their border guards and to respond to the complex operational needs arising at the external borders of the European Union. The basis for Frontex’s training activities was formed by the first edition of the Common Core Curriculum for Border Guard basic training (CCC-basic). Ever since, Frontex has coordinated the further development of the curriculum and assisted the Member States in implementing it. Interoperability is a prerequisite for smooth operational cooperation. This can only be achieved by the implementation of uniform educational standards and by close cooperation between educational and operational actors. From a prac- tical perspective, the interaction between training and work is best reached through direct contact between teachers in border guard academies, students and operational officers. The successful application of the interoperability principle begins with the facil- itation of common training and personal contacts, leading to good relationships between the border guard students. It develops further with the facilitation of exchange of ideas, experiences and best practices between their trainers with the involvement of operational officers in focal points. This interaction also reinforces the evolving common European border guard culture. I have noted with satisfaction the positive, and even enthusiastic, feedback re- ceived from the participants. I believe that exchange and mobility activities will have a very positive impact on the further development and harmonisation of European border guard training, culture and values. This publication offers a good overview of these activities from the point of view of the participants. 5 Frontex · Exercising Mobility in Border Guard Basic Training Gheorghe VARBAN Project Manager One could argue that 2015 was no different from the previous years of the Fron- tex Mobility/Exchange project. Teachers from many Member States met, set goals for their common activities and then carried out their mobility exercises as usual. The same selection criteria were in place for the participants, the same procedures, the same dedicated project assistants organised the study visits in their partnership academies or focal points at the EU’s external land, air and sea borders. The teachers and students added to their knowledge and experience in border guarding, making personal contacts and enjoying every moment of their time together. Routine. Ordinary. Or was it? The truth is that the experience of these exercises is always unique for the par- ticipating teachers and trainers, as they have the exclusive possibility of meeting the joint operation local and guest officers at the hosting focal points. The focus is mainly on observing the mechanism of border guard cooperation under the Frontex umbrella in the daily work at the border, on understanding how the Schengen Borders Code and the Integrated Management System are implemented in practice and safeguarded. Many changes in strategy, procedures and equipment have taken place over the years in border guarding, and keeping up with them all is quite challenging. The guest teachers admit that following the mobility exercises they can better understand the future jobs of their students and they can explain border guard- ing processes and procedures much better and more easily to their classes. 6 So what is behind the numbers? A quick glimpse shows that in 2015 alone, 24 teachers and trainers from 16 dif- ferent MS, delivering classes in basic and further vocational training schools, academic environment and operational units, participated in these exercises. The seniority of teachers ranged from one year to 16 years in the force, so they also took the opportunity to exchange experiences and learn from one another. The number of trainees, cadets and operational staff that these 24 trainers ad- dress in BG training per year is more than 3,500, in a total of 9,500 teaching hours. Moreover, the knowledge and experience gained during the mobility ex- ercises was also cascaded upon their return on to another 1,255 peer trainers! Imagine this number multiplied by the number of trainees and teaching hours delivered by each of those trainers! In addition 40 BG students participated directly in the exchange and benefited from 116 learning hours, accompanied by another 10 trainers, who, in their turn, cascaded the acquired knowledge and experience on to their colleagues. Is it a lot? Is it little? Were the aims achieved? Definitely, YES. All these figures can offer just a brief overview of the extent to which Frontex has created fair chances for effective networking and actual liaison of training with operations through teacher mobility and student exchanges. That said, the massive impact is yet to be assessed in attitudes, motivation, professionalism and interoperability with regard to European border guarding. 7 Frontex · Exercising Mobility in Border Guard Basic Training Barbara URBANOVIC Frontex Coordinating Officer The operational aim of the Focal Points Concept is implementing coordinated op- erational activities at the external land, sea and air borders of the Member States, by providing a platform for other joint operations, in order to control irregular mi- gration flows towards the territory of the MS and to tackle cross-border crime. The platform is regarded as a strategic operational response to the pressures of irregular migration and other cross-border related crime that affects the secu- rity of the EU’s borders, whereas the implementation of joint operations provides the necessary support to the MS via a flexible and targeted approach. Therefore, the main benefit is the achieving of Frontex’s goals, namely situational aware- ness supporting response, emergency response and development. The Focal Points Land operation has specifically proven to be very useful and also versatile in its applications. It has been successfully utilised to provide both deployed guest officers and Common Core Curriculum trainers with a podium from which to perform their respective duties and to achieve various objectives. It has facilitated the exchange of experience and best practices, provided officers with the opportunity to take part in operational activities, and acted as a train- ing tool for national trainers. It gives me great pleasure to see the Focal Points platform being further used in the Teacher Mobility Exercises. It has been developed with the express objective of providing support. Making it available to trainers and assisting with the dis- semination of common standards is one of the platform’s many potential pur- poses and an appropriate use of its resources. I look forward to observing the application of the platform’s potential in this area, and feel confident that its structure and resources will provide added value and further contribute to a high standard of training. 8 Teacher Mobility Frontex · Exercising Mobility in Border Guard Basic Training Common Core Curriculum: Teacher Mobility Exercises Aim the effective implementation of the Common Core Curriculum for border guard basic training as a background for EU border guard interoperability long-term support for development of border guard culture