In December 2009 ENFSI submitted a project proposal to the EC called Sustainable Quality Within European Forensic Science (SQWEFS) . The proposal was accepted by the EC in December 2010 by the official signing of the Grant Agreement. ENFSI’s first “Monopoly Programme” started in January 2011 and ran until December 2013.

The “Monopoly Programme” 2009 (MP2009) as the project is called within ENFSI  promoted the exchange and dissemination of best practice in the critical area of quality standards within European forensic science. Further, common standards are essential to facilitate the ready exchange of forensic information in fighting international crime. The project also aimed to engage with those using forensic information (the law enforcement community) to develop guidance for their forensic education and training (E&T) to promote their better understanding and better use of forensic science.

The overall project MP2009 took place over 36 months and involved 17 participating organisations (mainly European forensic institutes). Furthermore, the project aimed on working closely with other organisations: ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation), EA (European Cooperation for Accreditation), National Accreditation Bodies, Eurachem, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and police officers.

The overall project had 7 activity areas (sub-projects):

Project Code: P1
Title: The development of an ILAC guideline for the implementation of ISO-standards throughout the forensic process
Allocated Budget: €58,054.00
Project Leader: Christina Bertler (SKL, Linkoping – Sweden)
The aim of this project was to develop a guideline for the implementation of ISO-standards covering the whole forensic process. Such a guideline is mainly used by technical assessors when assessing forensic activities but is also helpful for organisations trying to understand ISO-standards in order to set criteria for local implementation within specific forensic fields.
Project Code: P2
Title: Enhancing the awareness of European Accreditation bodies to different forensic fields.
Allocated Budget: €27,385.00
Project Leader: Christina Bertler (SKL, Linkoping – Sweden)
The aim was a to raise an awareness of the nature of forensic work. If the areas are discussed during workshops with appropriate presentations this should lead to a more consistent approach being taken towards the accreditation of organisations performing forensicwork.
Project Code: P3
Title: Training technical experts for quality assessment in different forensic fields.
Allocated Budget: €256,859.50
Project Leader: Christina Bertler (SKL, Linkoping – Sweden)
The project aims was to train 80 technical assessors within different forensic areas as a joint activity between ENFSI and EA. The project arranged training seminars for forensic experts to become technical assessors. EA and ENFSI QCC were  responsible for the trainings seminars. There was a list of trained technical
assessors published at the end of the project.
Project Code: P4
Title: The development of guidelines for the validation of analytical and comparative methods in forensic science.
Allocated Budget: €87,996.50
Project Leader: Jake Irwin (FSS, London – UK)
The project intended to study both the analytical part of validation as well as the comparative part. The reason for doing this is that there is often an initial
analytical method that gives results which are used as a base for the comparative part of the whole process.
Project Code: P5
Title: The development of guidelines for conducting proficiency tests and collaborative exercises in forensic science.
Allocated Budget: €75,124.00
Project Leader: Louise McKenna (EFE, Dublin – Ireland)
Proficiency tests (PTs) or collaborative exercises (CEs) are essential parts of the process of quality assurance. They are used to demonstrate that an organisation
performing a certain analysis or examination is able to achieve the correct results. When correct results are not achieved then the organisation needs to use the
results to drive improvements (process, staff competence, etc).
Project Code: P6
Title: European Forensic Education & Training Network (EFETN)
Allocated Budget: €50,980.00
Project Leader: Peter Pfefferli (FSI, Zurich – Switzerland)
The aim was to educate and to train customers of  forensic science, especially within justice and police, to offer a wide spectrum of educational services and to deliver qualified and customized E&T support to Justice and Law Enforcement in Europe.
Project Code: P7
Title: ENFSI website tools for the management and communication of EC monopoly programme activity.
Allocated Budget: €39,501.00
Project Leader: Peter de Bruyn (NFI, The Hague – The Netherlands)
The aim of this project was to prepare the tool which would provide access to project plans, project budget information, programme financial overviews, progress indications, management information, projects results and outcomes. Further, there was need for an area on the ENFSI website that presents EC monopoly information (programmes and projects) to the ENFSI community.

In addition, over-arching work will develop a conceptual model for sustainable quality in European forensic science. This will aim to provide a framework for future development and will address:

  • the continued development of shared documentation relating to quality matters;

  • mechanisms for supporting Europe-wide adoption of best practice and rapid progress towards accreditation in all forensic areas;

  • approaches for monitoring progress in achieving widespread forensic quality standards and the long-term maintenance of these standards.