In October 2013, the Council of Europe decided to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Romania to establish a Cybercrime Programme Office (C-PROC) in Bucharest responsible for capacity building on cybercrime and electronic evidence. C-PROC became operational in April 2014 and has since supported well over 2000 activities for more than 130 countries in all regions of the world.
Ten years later, by December 2023, C-PROC had projects running with a combined budget of some EUR 40 million:
- GLACY+ (global);
- Octopus Project (global);
- CyberEast (Eastern Europe);
- iPROCEEDS-2 (South East Europe);
- CyberSouth (Southern Mediterranean).
C-PROC will remain closely linked to the Budapest Convention and the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) as part of the “dynamic triad”. Therefore, assisting countries in the implementation of the Second Protocol – with its tools for direct cooperation with service providers, for cooperation in emergency situations, or for joint investigation teams, but also the data protection safeguards to facilitate cooperation - will be a priority.
Overall, C-PROC will continue to support human rights, democracy and the rule of law in cyberspace. It will permit more people to cooperate more and better in order to make a difference.
Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention)