Homemade Explosives Course improves EU law enforcement & military cooperation

Experts have met to exchange best practices at a Homemade Explosives Training course in Ireland.

The European Union's law enforcement agency (Europol) and the European Defence Agency (EDA) promoted the course, with the support of the Ordnance Corps of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Ireland and the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The training course was a result of increasing cooperation between Europe and the United States in explosives security & safety issues, in line with both the new European Commission approach to the detection and mitigation of CBRN E risks¹, and the Joint Statement following the 5th EU-US Explosives Experts' Seminar².

The EU experts participating in the course at the beginning of this month arrived from civil & military competent authorities, as a natural consequence of the synergy created by Europol and the EDA, in order to improve the cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the military.

The purpose of the training was to identify, process and dispose of several kinds of homemade explosives that can be found in improvised laboratories, such as those used by criminals and/or terrorists.

The EU agencies Europol and the EDA, together with the US DoJ (ATF and FBI), will continue to work together to mitigate the threat from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and identify common training requirements.

All participants of the course recognise that the global nature of the IED threat requires a coordinated international response. 

¹ Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, COM (2014) 247 final, Brussels, 5.5.2014.

² The 5th Annual EU-US Explosives Experts’ Seminar took place on 5-7 November. Subject matter experts from the EU Member States, the United States, the European Commission, the European Defence Agency and Europol, participated in this seminar as well as, for the first time, delegates from Croatia. As highlighted by the June 2013 EU-US Ministerial meeting in Dublin, Ireland, the importance of coordination and collaboration between the EU and the US remains critical.