SIRENE bureau staff shall have the linguistic skills covering as wide a range of languages as possible and on-duty staff shall able to communicate with all SIRENE bureaux.
They shall have the necessary knowledge on:
national and European legal aspects,
their national law enforcement agencies, and
national and European judiciary and immigration administration systems.
They need to have the authority to deal independently with any incoming case.
In case of special requests or (legal) expert advice, they should have the possibility to call upon the assistance of their superiors and/or experts.
Operators on duty outside office hours shall have the same competence, knowledge and authority and have the possibility to refer to experts available on-call.
Legal expertise to cover both normal and exceptional cases is required. Depending on the cases, this expertise can be provided by any personnel with the necessary legal background or experts from the judicial authorities.
The responsible national recruiting authorities shall take all the above skills and knowledge into consideration when recruiting new staff and, shall consequently, organise in-service training courses or sessions both at national and European level.
A high level of experience of staff leads to a workforce able to function on their own initiative and thereby able to handle cases efficiently. A low turnover of personnel is therefore propitious, which requires the unambiguous support of management to enable this devolved responsibility.
At national level, sufficient training shall ensure that staff meet the required standards laid down in this Manual(1).
Common training courses shall be organised at least once a year, to enhance cooperation between SIRENE bureaux by allowing staff to meet colleagues from other SIRENE bureaux, to share information on national working methods and to create a consistent and equivalent level of knowledge. Furthermore, these will make staff aware of the importance of their work and the need for mutual solidarity in view of the common security of Member States.
SIRENE bureaux may also consider the possibility of setting up staff exchanges with other SIRENE bureaux. These exchanges are intended to help improve staff knowledge of working methods, to show how other SIRENE bureaux are organised and to establish personal contacts with colleagues in other Member States.
Staff shall receive, among other subjects, appropriate training about data security and data protection rules and shall be informed of any relevant criminal penalties. Staff shall also be aware of the relevant national rules of professional secrecy or other equivalent obligations of confidentiality which shall apply to all SIRENE personnel.