Introduction

1 T he European Police Office (Europol) is the European Union (EU) law enforcement
organization handling criminal intelligence and its aim is to improve the effectiveness of and
cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States responsible for preventing
and combating serious international organized crime and terrorism.

2Europol’s mission is to make a significant contribution to the EU law enforcement action

against organized crime, with an emphasis on targeting criminal organizations and, most
importantly, to contribute to the security of the citizens and the Member States of the Union.

3The achievement of this endeavour will prove wrong, among others, the “euro-skeptics” who
welcomed the idea of a supra-national EU law enforcement agency in the way shown by the
above quotation.

Europol's main objective is to improve the effectiveness and cooperation between the law
enforcement agencies of the EU member states. To achieve this, Europol facilitates the exchange of
information and intelligence, provides analytical support, and offers specialized training and
expertise. Some of the key areas of focus for Europol include drug trafficking, human
trafficking, cybercrime, money laundering, and counter-terrorism.
The Agency has no executive powers, and its officials are not entitled to arrest suspects, conduct
independent investigations, or act without prior approval from competent authorities in the member
states as Europol's role is to support and facilitate the efforts of national law enforcement agencies
within the EU

History

4The establishment of Europol was agreed in the Maastricht Treaty on the European Union,
while the Europol Convention was ratified by all EU Member States and came into force on 1
October 1998, which allowed Europol to start full operational activities on 1 July 1999.

5Nonetheless, Europol had started operations since early 1994 as “Europol Drugs Unit”, which
contributed from its inception to the fight against drugs in Europe. Progressively, other important
crime areas were added to the mandate, which was extended to deal with all serious forms of
international crime as of January 2002.

6The need for a regional police organization stems from the Eighties, in parallel with the
political, economic and social developments of the European Communities. When the European
Commission began to lay down the principles for the free movement of persons, goods, capitals
and services within the EU borders, law enforcement officers - meeting within the so-called
Trevi Group - identified and flagged the inherent dangers associated to those developments if
they were not accompanied by compensatory initiatives, including crime prevention and control
measures and international police cooperation.

Europol’s origin and development

The idea of a European Police Office was first launched by the European Council in
Luxembourg in June 1991.

Originally, this structure was to have a non-operating nature and was supposed to

perform an information sharing role between two or more states on transnational crime
issues (e.g. organised crime, terrorism, money laundering, drug trafficking). Europol
was established in 1992 by the Maastricht Treaty and started limited operations in 1994
in the embryonic form of the Europol Drugs Unit (EDU). It progressively expanded its
mandate to other areas of transnational crime, and became fully operational in July
1999.

After 9/11, Europol was attributed a more expanded counterterrorist mandate. However,
its role was limited due to the tendency of some Member States, among which the
United Kingdom, to favour their domestic investigative authorities. This situation did not
significantly change even after the terrorist attacks in Madrid in March 2004 and London
in June 2005. In fact, Europol did not manage to gain the full support of member states,
which on many occasions submitted information of limited value. In 2009 Europol
was formally transformed into a EU agency by means of the European Council
Decision 2009/371/JHA of 6 April 2009, which currently represents Europol’s
predominant legal framework. The coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty has also
affected Europol due to the greater number of decisions that can be now taken by
majority voting in the sector of police cooperation. Since 2013, Europol has also
included the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), whose function is to fight against
cybercrime at transnational level.

How does Europol operate?

Europol’s mandate is to improve information exchange between the competent national

authorities in preventing and combating serious cross-border crime. In particular, Article
88(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union specifies that
“Europol’s mission shall be to support and strengthen action by the Member States’
police authorities and other law enforcement services and their mutual cooperation in
preventing and combating serious crime affecting two or more member states, terrorism
and forms of crime which affect a common interest covered by a Union policy.”
At the present time, Europol does not hold traditional police operational powers and
cannot send its agents to undertake intrusive operations like searching premises. In
fact, Article 88(3) provides that “the application of coercive measures shall be the
exclusive responsibility of the competent national authorities.” As a result, Europol’s
functions are fundamentally to collect and process information generating knowledge
and producing evidence. In fact, its primary function is to gather, store, process, analyse
and exchange data to enhance the effectiveness and cooperation of national
authorities. As a result, Europol might be defined as a data processing agency rather
than a real law enforcing police office.

Due to the absence of operational and executive powers, it might appear that Europol
acts as a mere support service for national law enforcement agencies. However, such a
view can be misleading. As a matter of fact, Europol has the potential for exerting a
significant influence on both the development of domestic criminal justice policies and
the way in which police operations are undertaken at national level. It is not uncommon
that through the evidence produced Europol determines the executive measures carried
out at domestic level. In order to make few examples of how Europol’s activities might
influence domestic police operations, it is possible to mention the major investigation
carried out by Europol and police teams from thirteen European countries that
uncovered in 2013 an extensive criminal network involved in widespread football
match-fixing.

A more recent example of the way in which Europol might support national police forces
is the dismantlement of a Romanian organised criminal group implicated in trafficking
young women into prostitution in more than ten cities in the United Kingdom. Europol
has demonstrated it is a fundamental EU agency, which can provide national authorities
with vital support in the fight against transnational crime. However, given that Europol
gathers, collects and distributes a huge mass of information, the implementation of an
adequate data protection system appears vital to protect individuals’ fundamental rights.
At the same time, the establishment of a sufficient degree of judicial control over
Europol’s activity seems to be an absolute requirement especially in view of the
possible future expansion of the agency’s powers.

It is controlled by a Management Board, which is formed by one representative from

each member state and an additional one from the European Commission. The board,
which must report annually to the European Council, takes most of its decisions by a
two-thirds vote. In other words, it is required for a proposal to gain a level of support
which is greater than the common threshold of one half used for majority (i.e. at least
66,66% of all votes instead of one vote more than 50%). Currently, the United
Kingdom’s representative is Mr Peter Storr, who is the International Director and Senior
Director for the International and Immigration Policy Group. However, Europol’s day-to-
day management is in the hands of a Director and three Deputy Directors.
Europol looks like the European counterpart to national police institutions. At the
present time, almost 800 police officers work at Europol, of whom around 120 represent
their home organisations and are subject to the relevant national laws (the so-called
Europol Liaison Officers). Their function is extremely important because they are in
charge of the exchange of sensitive data between the various domestic police
institutions. It is important to distinguish Europol from Interpol. In fact, whilst the former
can be defined as the official intelligence agency of the European Union, the latter
merely represents an international network of police agencies, whose activities are
driven directly by member countries, and that has been set up to facilitate cooperation
between different national police organisation

Activities regarding counter-terrorism[edit]

The European Parliament approved Europol's new legal framework, Regulation (EU) 2016/794, on
11 May 2016 after three years of negotiations and thus repealed the former Decisions of 2009. The
new framework granted additional powers on counter-terrorism to Europol,[33] but also includes
adding training and exchange programmes for staff, creating a solid data protection system, and
strengthening the Parliament's control over the Agency.[34] The Regulation took effect on 1 May 2017.
[35]
 Additionally, the full name was amended to European Union Agency for Law Enforcement
Cooperation (Europol).[36]

Activities against child sexual abuse[edit]

Europol started the Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object campaign and website on 31 May 2017.
The site's objective is to display objects in child sexual abuse images to try to find the perpetrators
and victims — in the hope that distinct details, such as a logo on a bag or a shampoo bottle, can be
identified by the public who can then forward the information by an anonymous tip-off or social
media. The approach was called crowdsourcing by the investigators.[37][38] Bellingcat, the investigative
search network, reported that several objects had been positively identified following its attempt to
support Europol's call.[39]

Tasks and activities[edit]

Europol is mandated by the European Union (EU) to assist EU Member States in the fight against
international crime, such as illicit drugs, trafficking in human beings, intellectual property crime,
cybercrime, euro counterfeiting and terrorism, by serving as a centre for law enforcement co-
operation, expertise and criminal intelligence.[36][13][40][41][42] Europol or its officials do not have executive
powers — and therefore they do not have powers of arrest and cannot carry
out investigations without the approval of national authorities. [41][43][7]
Europol reported it would focus on countering cybercrime, organised crime, and terrorism as well as
on building its information technology capacities during the 2016–2020 strategy cycle, .[2] Europol
likewise stated that the previous strategy cycle of 2010–2014 laid the foundation for the Agency as
the European criminal information hub.[44] The EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment
(SOCTA) of 2017 identified eight priority crime areas: cybercrime; drug production, trafficking and
distribution; migrant smuggling; organised property crime; trafficking in human beings; criminal
finances and money laundering; document fraud; and online trade in illicit goods and services.[45]
Additionally, the Agency's tasked activities in detail include analysis and exchange information, such
as criminal intelligence; co-ordination of investigative and operational action as well as joint
investigation teams; preparation of threat assessments, strategic and operational analyses and
general situation reports; and developing specialist knowledge of crime prevention and forensic
methods. Europol is to coordinate and support other EU bodies established within the area of
freedom, security and justice, such as the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement
Training (CEPOL), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), and EU crisis management missions.
The Agency is also directed to assist the European Council and the European Commission in
developing strategic and operational priorities.[36][13][42]

Looking into the future

20In spite of the dramatic growth in activities and contributions to the

Member States since Europol’s inception in 1999, law enforcement
cooperation is still too often reactive rather than proactive. This consideration
- a truism for some, a mantra for others - was behind the decision to gear
Europol’s activities towards an intelligence-based approach, which contains
an important aspect of preventive policing.
21The adoption of The Hague Programme in 2004 initiated a process for
strengthening freedom, security and justice in the European Union with
important implications for Europol, since one of the objectives of the
Programme was to fight against organized cross-border crime and repress the
threat of terrorism in order to achieve the potential of Europol.
22The JHA Council noted that the mere information exchange was no longer
sufficient to meet the new challenges posed by serious forms of international
crime, particularly organized crime and terrorism. The statement “the mere
fact that information crosses borders should no longer be relevant” (The
Hague Programme, Annex to the Presidency Conclusions; Brussels European
Council 4/5 November 2004; 14292/04) is witness to the resolve of the
European leaders to step up exchange of information and criminal
intelligence throughout the Union. The “principle of availability”, and its
introduction as from 2008, was the answer provided to the need to improve
information exchange within the Union.
23In the language of the Programme, principle of availability means that,
throughout the Union, a law enforcement officer in one Member State who
needs information in order to perform his duties can obtain this from another
Member State, and the law enforcement agency in the other Member State
which holds this information will make it available for the stated purpose,
taking into account the requirement of the ongoing investigation. The
methods of exchange of information should make full use of new technology
and must be adapted to each type of information, where appropriate, through
reciprocal access to or interoperability of national databases, or direct access,
including for Europol, to existing central EU databases such as the Schengen
Information System.
24Naturally, the most important provisions of The Hague Programme
concerning Europol are those dealing with police cooperation. They are based
upon the consideration that effectively combating cross-border organized and
other serious crime and terrorism requires intensified practical cooperation
between Member States’ police and customs authorities and with Europol, as
well as better use of existing instruments in the field. The European Council
designed for Europol a number of reforms dealing with the improvement of
its legal framework, particularly through the ratification of the pending
Europol Protocols amending the Convention, as well as with more
operational issues, such as the replacement of the “crime situation reports” by
yearly “threat assessments” on serious forms of organized crime, the
designation as central office of the Union for euro counterfeits within the
meaning of the G eneva Convention of 1929, the improvement of cooperation
with other EU bodies and agencies, particularly Eurojust, the Joint Situation
Centre of the General Secretariat of the Council (SITCEN), OLAF and
Frontex. The Member States also stressed that police cooperation is made
more efficient and effective in a number of cases by facilitating cooperation
on specified themes between the Member States concerned, where
appropriate by establishing joint investigative teams and, where necessary,
supported by Europol.
25Certainly, no operational reform can be implemented before a new
legislative and strategic plan is in place, particularly in a case like the so-
called Third Pillar of the European Union, which has seen the mushrooming
of decisions, framework decisions and conventions over the course of the
years. In 1995, Europol stood alone as an institutional player in the JHA
domain, today Eurojust, SITCEN, OLAF, Frontex, Cepoli have joined the
same environment, taking up duties and responsibilities that are
complementary but, at times, also overlapping. Therefore, coordination and
clarification are essential and during the 2006 Austrian Presidency of the
Union a debate was launched on the frameworks and objectives for the
further development of Europol. The main issues discussed during this
exercise included :

o The future of Europol shall follow the principle that the main
responsibility for combating serious international crime and terrorist
offences in the EU will remain within the competence of national law
enforcement agencies of the
MS. Europol should operate as a multi-agency organization in full
cooperation with all national competent authorities;
o Current arrangements for sharing information with Europol are up to
the task and allow the necessary flexibility to protect sensitive
sources;
o In view of the number of different EU bodies dealing with serious
international crime, a comprehensive concept for the relations
between
Europol and other relevant EU institutions and the Member States
should be established. The external relations of Europol, particularly
its role in the
Western Balkans, should be reviewed;
 o More flexible and efficient corporate governance and oversight
procedure should be considered;
o The awareness of Europol within the law enforcement community, but
also among the general public, needs to be boosted; and
o An adequate renewal of Europol’s primary (Convention) and
secondary
(implementing) legislation is necessary to ensure the implementation
of the measures advocated above.

26Such an ambitious programme of reform calls for immediate action by the

Member States, EU bodies and organs and Europol itself. Member States are
responsible for the finalization of the ratification of the three Protocols
amending the Europol Convention, while all players should prepare as far as
possible the entry into force of the Protocols in order for them to be fully
applicable as shortly as possible after their entry into force. Equally important
is the work to improve the functioning of Europol both on the basis of and
beyond the current legal framework, including work to ultimately replace the
Europol Convention by a Council Decision.
27It is apparent that reform and, even more so, self-reform, entail a difficult
and long process, particularly when the factual circumstances - the EU
organized crime environment in Europol’s case - would absorb unlimited
resources. Nonetheless, the EU Member States and Europol cannot afford to
stand still when internal and external foes proliferate.