Mission
Europol is the European Union law enforcement organisation
that handles criminal intelligence. Its aim is to improve the
effectiveness and cooperation between the competent
authorities of the member states in preventing and combating
serious international organised crime and terrorism. The
mission of Europol is to make a significant contribution to the
European Union’s law enforcement action against organised
crime and terrorism, with an emphasis on targeting criminal
organisations.
Europol Vision Statement
"Europol will be a world-class centre of excellence to support
the EU member states’ fight against all forms of serious
international crime and terrorism."
Europol Values
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Leadership and common approach;
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Integrity;
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Dynamic and proactive;
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Professional and results oriented;
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Credibility and reliability;
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Dialogue based cooperation;
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Engagement and commitment.
History
The establishment of Europol was agreed in the Treaty on
European Union of 7 February 1992. Based in The Hague,
Netherlands, Europol started limited operations on 3 January
1994 in the form of the Europol Drugs Unit (EDU) fighting
against drug-related crimes.
The Europol Convention was ratified by all EU member states
and came into force on 1 October 1998. Following a number of
legal acts related to the Convention, Europol commenced its
full activities on 1 July 1999.
Progressively, other important areas of criminality were added.
On 1 January 2002, the mandate of Europol was extended to
deal with all serious forms of international crime as listed in the
annex to the Europol Convention.
In its meeting in Luxembourg 06 April 2009 the Council of the European Union, Justice and Home Affairs, adopted a decision transforming Europol into a EU agency from 01 January 2010.
Within the new legal framework changes can be introduced more rapidly in response to trends in crime since decisions can be taken by majority of two thirds of the Member States.
Europol's current direct Member State funding will be replaced by funding via the general budget of the EU. This will make Europol become a full EU body subject to the Financial Regulation and the Staff Regulations of the European Communities.
Mandate
Europol supports the law enforcement activities of the
member states mainly against:
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Illicit drug trafficking;
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Illicit immigration networks;
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Terrorism;
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Forgery of money (counterfeiting of the euro) and other
means of payment;
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Trafficking in human beings (including child pornography);
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Illicit vehicle trafficking;
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Money laundering.
In addition, other main priorities for Europol include
combating crimes against persons, financial crime and
cybercrime.
Europol comes into action when an organised criminal
structure is involved and two or more member states are
affected. From 1 January 2010 the operational possibilities will be enhanced by the
extension of the mandate so that Europol may support Member States investigations into serious crime that is not
necessarily thought to be carried out by organised groups e.g. a serial killer operating cross border.
Europol supports member states by:
Facilitating the exchange of information, in accordance
with national law, between Europol liaison officers (ELOs).
ELOs are seconded to Europol by the member states as
representatives of their national law enforcement agencies; -
Providing operational analysis in support of operations;
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Generating strategic reports (e.g. threat assessments) and
crime analysis on the basis of information and intelligence
supplied by member states and third parties;
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Providing expertise and technical support for investigations
and operations carried out within the EU, under the
supervision and the legal responsibility of the member
states concerned.
Europol is also active in promoting crime analysis and
harmonisation of investigative techniques within the member
states.
Computerised System of Collected
Information
The Europol Convention states that Europol shall establish and
maintain a computerised system to allow the input, access
and analysis of data. The Convention also provides the legal
framework for the management of these systems, in particular
as regards data protection, confidentiality and external
supervision. The Europol computerised system has three
principal components:
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An information system;
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An analysis system;
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An index system.
In addition to the above systems aimed at processing of
personal data Europol is developing and managing many
more information products and services, either as part of or in
support of its core business.
Finance
Europol is funded by contributions from the member states
according to their GNP. Budget 2009: EUR 65.4 million.
The Financial Controller is appointed by the Management
Board, acting unanimously, and is responsible for
monitoring the commitment and disbursement of
expenditure as well as the establishment and collection of
the income of Europol.
The annual accounts of Europol are subject to an audit.
This is carried out by the Joint Audit Committee, which is
composed of three members appointed by the Court of
Auditors of the European Communities.
Personnel
The Directorate of Europol is appointed by the Council
of the European Union (Ministers for Justice and Home
Affairs). It currently consists of Director Rob Wainwright
(United Kingdom) and the Deputy Directors Mariano Simancas
(Spain), Michel Quillé (France) and Eugenio Orlandi (Italy).
There are approximately 625 people working at the Europol
premises. Of these, approximately 120 are Europol liaison
officers (ELOs) representing a variety of law enforcement
agencies, such as police, customs, gendarmerie, immigration
services and others.
Management and Control
Europol is accountable to the Council of Ministers for
Justice and Home Affairs. The Council is responsible for the
guidance and control of Europol. It appoints the Director
and the Deputy Directors and approves the budget.
The Council of Ministers contains representatives from
all member states, and the requirement for unanimous
decisions helps ensure a democratic control of Europol.
The Europol Management Board comprises one
representative from each member state and has the overall
task of supervising the activities of the organisation.
The Joint Supervisory Body, comprising two data protection
experts from each member state, monitors the content and
use of all personal data held by Europol.
International cooperation
In order to fight international organised crime effectively,
Europol cooperates with a number of third countries and
organisations as follows (in alphabetical order): Albania,
Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, CEPOL
(European Police College), Colombia, Croatia, Eurojust,
European Central Bank, European Commission, European
Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Frontex, Iceland, Interpol,
Moldova, Norway, OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office),
Russian Federation, Serbia, Switzerland, SITCEN (EU Joint Situation
Centre), Turkey, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
USA, World Customs Organisation.
This is done on the basis of cooperation agreements
concluded in accordance with the Europol Convention. The
Europol External Strategy defines the framework within
which Europol is to develop its activities with regard to third
partners.
24/7 Service
The Europol liaison officers, together with the Europol
officers, analysts and other experts, provide an effective, fast
and multilingual service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Contact
Europol, Raamweg 47, The Hague,
The Netherlands
Postal address:
PO Box 90850
NL-2509 LW The Hague
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