Members
The EGF is based in Vicenza, in northeastern Italy, and has a core of 800-900 members ready to deploy within 30 days. This includes elements from the;
- French Gendarmerie
- Italian Carabinieri
- Dutch Royal Marechaussee
- Portuguese National Republican Guard
- Romanian Gendarmerie
- Spanish Guardia Civil
An additional 2,300 reinforcements will be available on standby. The Polish Military Gendarmerie are also a partner force, and on 10 October 2006, Poland indicated it would like to join the EGF. Lithuania is also an official Partner in the organization's activities. In December 2011 Poland applied for full membership in EGF. More countries will be allowed to join in the future.
Germany does not take part, as their constitution does not permit the use of military forces for police services. The minister of defense, Peter Struck, clarified in 2004 that the legal foundation of militarised police forces is different from expectations underlying the EGF. The paramilitary Bereitschaftspolizei units of the Länder states have no standing patrol order like the German Federal Police for example. Neither did Germany sign the Treaty of Velsen on the EGF or any later proposal. Instead there is a tight integration of police forces based on the Prüm Treaty. Originally the Prüm Treaty regulated access to police databases of neighboring countries but it was used multiple times as the legal foundation to exchange riot police equipment and personal with the participating countries (Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium). In 2008 the Prüm Treaty was naturalized as EU law allowing them access to police forces regulated under EU law (based on the Schengen agreement). While the European Police Forces Training of 2009 (EUPFT 2009) was run in Vicenza (home to EGF headquarter) the EUPFT 2010 on anti-riot tactics was run in Lehnin in Germany.
Read more about this topic: European Gendarmerie Force
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