In 2009 the European Commission has decided to grant ENFSI the monopoly position concerning forensics in Europe. The EC will address ENFSI in situations when information or advice on forensics is needed. Also as a result of this decision the EC has allocated € 500.000 for ENFSI to spend on a project through a specific action grant.

ISEC annual work programme 2009:

In December 2009 ENFSI has submitted a project proposal to the EC called Sustainable Quality Within European Forensic Science (SQWEFS) .

The Monopoly Programme 2009 (MP2009) as the project is called within ENFSI will promote the exchange and dissemination of best practice in the critical area of quality standards within European forensic science. Further, common standards are essential to facilitate the ready exchange of forensic information in fighting international crime. The project also aims to engage with those using forensic information (the law enforcement community) to develop guidance for their forensic education and training (E&T) to promote their better understanding and better use of forensic science.

The overall project MP2009 will take place over 36 months and involve 17 participating organisations (mainly European forensic institutes). Furthermore, the project aims to work closely with other organisations: ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation), EA (European Cooperation for Accreditation), National Accreditation Bodies, Eurachem, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and police officers.

The overall project has 7 activity areas (sub-projects):

• P1) The development of an ILAC guideline for the implementation of ISO-standards throughout the forensic process. This will deliver an international guidance document to facilitate the uniform application of ISO-standards across Europe. This will be disseminated through a joint ENFSI / ILAC conference at the end of 2011.
• P2) Enhancing the awareness of European accreditation bodies to different forensic fields. This will deliver 2 training seminars (early 2011 and 2012), organised by ENFSI and EA, for individuals from national accreditation bodies across Europe to raise awareness of different forensic fields. This aims for Europe-wide consistency in the process of forensic accreditation.
• P3) Training technical assessors for quality assessment in different forensic fields. This will train 80 forensic experts as technical assessors to work alongside national accreditation bodies when performing their work. EA and ENFSI will work together on 4 training events over 3 years.
• P4) The development of guidelines for the validation of analytical and comparative methods in forensic science. This will produce a guidance document for the validation of new forensic methods. Dissemination will be through a seminar in early 2012.
• P5) The development of guidelines for conducting proficiency tests and collaborative exercises in forensic science. This will produce a guidance document for conducting proficiency tests and collaborative exercises in forensic science. This will be disseminated through an ENFSI seminar in Spring 2012.
• P6) European Forensic Education & Training Network (EFETN). This activity will assess the E&T needs of all forensic stakeholders in the law enforcement community, develop and publish guidance for E&T products for different user groups and identify E&T providers across Europe. The project will also develop a European network of E&T providers. A key dissemination event will be a seminar at the end of 2010.
• P7) ENFSI website tools for the management and communication of EC monopoly programme activity. This will involve the construction of an area on the ENFSI website dealing with the EC sponsored work. This tool will facilitate the effective dissemination of project information to the 58 members.

In addition, over-arching work will develop a conceptual model for sustainable quality in European forensic science. This will aim to provide a framework for future development and will address:

• the continued development of shared documentation relating to quality matters;
• mechanisms for supporting Europe-wide adoption of best practice and rapid progress towards accreditation in all forensic areas;
• approaches for monitoring progress in achieving widespread forensic quality standards and the long-term maintenance of these standards.

The Monopoly Programme 2009 is now in the final stage of negotiation (and fine tuning) with the EC. This process demands a lot of paperwork to be delivered by ENFSI, by the participating institutes and by the participating individuals. Hopefully the EC will accept the proposal by September 2010.
At the same time ENFSI is on its way of preparing a similar project proposal for 2010. In the 2010 Work Programme the EC has allocated € 650.000 for ENFSI.

ISEC annual work programme 2010:

The aim is to submit the proposal to the EC in October or November 2010.