1970

  • Establishment of the Trevi group by the interior and justice ministers of the European Communities. This was the first step towards a real cooperation between European police forces.

1991

  • Establishment of a Central European Investigation Office (‘Europol’) to fight international drug trafficking and organised crime.

1993

  • Europol Drugs Unit (EDU) is established by ministerial agreement and few months later based in The Hague.

1994

  • EDU starts its operations in The Hague.

1995

  • Agreement of the Convention establishing Europol under Article K3 of the Maastricht Treaty.

1999

  • Appointment of the first Europol Director - the former EDU Coordinator

1999

  • Introduction of the analysis work files (AWFs), one of Europol’s earliest tools for gathering, exchanging and processing information and intelligence.

1999

  • First publication of the annual Organised Crime Report

2000

  • Decision to set up a Europol Information System (EIS)

2001

  • Signature of the first cooperation agreements with Third Parties (Iceland and Norway)

2001

  • Establishment of a Counter Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) at Europol

2002

  • Establishment of the Europol secure information exchange tool (InfoEx)

2002

  • Signature of the Cooperation Agreement with the United States

2005

  • Appointment of Max-Peter Ratzel (Germany) as Europol Director

2005

  • Europol reaches 500 employees, liaison officers, Seconded National Experts, trainees and contractors

2006

  • Europol hosts 100 liaison officers

2006

  • First publication of the Organised Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA)

2007

  • First publication of the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT)

2009

  • Appointment of Rob Wainwright (United Kingdom) as Director of Europol

2009

  • Launch of Europol’s Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA)

2010

  • Europol becomes an EU agency

2010

  • Establishment of the multi-annual policy cycle for serious and organised crime (EMPACT)

2011

  • Inauguration of the new Europol headquarters by Queen Beatrix

2011

  • First European Police Chiefs Convention (EPCC)

2013

  • Opening of the European Cybercrime Centre at Europol

2015

  • Europol hosts 200 liaison officers

2015

  • Launch of the Joint Operational Team (JOT) MARE

2016

  • Establishment of European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) at Europol

2016

  • Launch of Europe’s Most Wanted Fugitives website.

2016

  • Establishment of European Migrant Smuggling Centre (EMSC) at Europol

2016

  • Deployment of Guest Officers to hotspots in Greece and Italy.

2016

  • Europol reaches 1000 employees, liaison officers, Seconded National Experts, trainees and contractors

2017

  • With the new regulation Europol's official name is changing to European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation

2018

  • Appointment of Catherine De Bolle (Belgium) as Executive Director of Europol