About Us

The security and stability of States, the area of freedom, security and justice of the European Union (EU) and the fight against organized or transnational criminal phenomena, requires the strengthening of synergies and cooperation, at all levels, for an effective and coordinated response at national, European and international levels.

It is with this primary objective that the Single Point of Contact for International Police Cooperation (PUC-CPI) emerges, whose organization and operation was initially established by Regulatory Decree No. 7/2017, of August 7, which has since been repealed and replaced by Decree-Law No. 10/2020, of March 11.

The PUC-CPI is the operational center responsible for coordinating international police cooperation, which ensures the routing of national information requests, the reception, routing and national dissemination of information from foreign police authorities, the transmission of information and meeting the requests made by them.

It brings together, under the same management, the National Sirene Bureau, the National Interpol Bureau, the National Europol Unit, the coordination of the national and foreign liaison officers, the coordination of the Police and Customs Cooperation Centres, the contact points arising from the Prüm Decisions and the Passenger Information Office.

In accordance with Article 23-A, paragraph 8 of Law 53/2008, of August 29, the above-mentioned Offices, Units, and points of contact are functionally dependent on the PUC-CPI and are subject to the regulations contained in the diplomas that provide for and regulate them.

The PUC-CPI operational center also assumes the role of front desk for the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, in the framework of the exchange of information provided for in Article 4 paragraph 2 of Decision 2008/615/JHA of 2008, and for the National SIRENE Office, in the framework of the exchange of supplementary information within the Schengen Information System.

The PUC-CPI is multi-agency in nature insofar as it is composed of members from different Security Forces and Services, namely the National Republican Guard, the Public Security Police, the Judicial Police and the Foreigners and Border Service. It also has liaison officers from the Tax and Customs Authority and the Maritime Police, as well as a contact point that ensures permanent articulation between the Public Prosecutor's Office and the PUC-CPI, for the exercise of its own powers in criminal proceedings.

There are also three thematic working groups which are coordinated by the PUC-CPI Management Office: Working Group for Risk Assessment (GTAR), Working Group for Training and Education (GTFT), and Working Group for Information Technologies and Systems (GTTSI).