Project applications submitted under the present call for proposals should address one or more of the following:

• Reinforced operational cooperation through the exchange of liaison officers in EU Member States and / or third country(ies), including through the setting up or strengthening of specialised teams of investigators and magistrates, and mutual support for ongoing investigations. This may include the support for liaison magistrate posts and the coordination of their work with relevant Agencies, such as Eurojust.
• Provision of targeted capacity building and on-the-job mentoring / twinning opportunities, including training – in coordination with CEPOL for the competent authorities in third countries on detection, investigation techniques, collecting evidence for judicial proceedings in the area of migrant smuggling, and prosecution. When relevant, this should include awareness on tools and services provided by EU agencies, as well as a focus on the online dimension of migrant smuggling (‘digital smuggling’) for both law enforcement and judicial authorities, document fraud, and illicit financial flows/financial investigations linked to migrant smuggling.
• Support, guidance and sharing of good practice for establishing more effective inter-agency and / or inter-ministerial cooperation as well as improved procedures and organisational structures to encourage optimal allocation of resources, both at national and regional levels.
• Coordination and complementarity with on-going Common Operational Partnership projects and assimilated projects throughout their implementation, including those that are funded through the external financing instruments of the European Union (in particular those detailed in section 6).
• Cooperation and exchange of operational and strategic information between the participants of the Common Operational Partnership projects and the liaison officers of Member States, EU agencies, European Migration Liaison Officers and/ or other EU agency liaison officers (part of the European Network of Immigration Liaison Officers) and/or Eurojust Liaison Magistrates, where applicable, in a whole-of route approach as well as the respective EU Delegation(s). Cooperation, complementarity and consistency between the Common Operational Partnership and actions implemented in the same country or region, funded under the work programme of the European network of immigration liaison officers should also be ensured.
• Ensure connection with the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT), in particular with the Operational Action Plan (OAP) on ‘Migrant Smuggling’ and/or with the Operational Action Plan on Trafficking in Human Beings, and ensure complementarity with the existing initiatives.
• Cooperation and exchange of operational information should take place with Europol, Frontex and Eurojust whenever relevant and in accordance with the applicable legal frameworks, including concerning the exchange of operational personal data. Common Operational Partnership projects should communicate with Europol on the project through the Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA) where relevant.
• As migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings are two distinct crimes that may be linked in practice, proposals may also address trafficking in human beings in addition to migrant smuggling. In this case, the relevant authorities in partner countries dealing with trafficking in human beings need to be closely associated to the project preparation and benefit from the project activities (also in terms of capacity building and equipment).
• Ensure that judicial practitioners, prosecutors and judges are aware of Eurojust’s support options and tools through its National Desks and Liaison Prosecutors and are encouraged to revert to the Agency in the case of relevant investigations.

Priority should be given to Common Operational Partnership projects that aim to develop operational / investigative responses to counter migrant smuggling along the migratory routes towards the EU, in particular the Eastern borders, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Balkans routes, the Central Mediterranean route, the Silk Route as well as the Western Mediterranean and Atlantic routes. Projects are encouraged to set up mechanisms / structures to share data and support cooperation beyond the duration of the project.