EUROPEAN POLICE OFFICE (EUROPOL)

The European Police Office, commonly abbreviated Europol, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU) that handles criminal intelligence and combating serious international organised crime by means of cooperation between the relevant authorities of the Member States, including those tasked with customs,  immigration services, border and financial police etc. Headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, the agency has approximately 800 staff, of which there are regular police officers and approximately 145 liaison officers as well as personnel seconded from national law enforcement organisations.

The agency has no executive powers, and its officials are not entitled to conduct investigations in the Member States or to arrest suspects. In providing support, Europol with its tools – information exchange, intelligence analysis, expertise and training – can contribute to the executive measures carried out by the relevant national authorities.

Authorities

Three different levels of co-operation are possible:

1. Training and technical co-operation
2. Strategic co-operation aimed at exchanging general trends in organised crime and how to fight it and the exchange of threat assessments
3. Exchange of personal data and requires the fulfilment of Europol's standards in the field of data protection and security

Europol is politically accountable to the Justice and Home Affairs Council via the Europol Management Board. The Council controls the appointment of Europol's Director and Deputy Directors. It also controls Europol's budget, financed from Member State contributions, rather than the EU budget and any legislative instruments it deems necessary for Europol. The Europol Management Board is staffed with Interior Ministry officials with one representative from every participating Member State. It meets at least twice per year and exercises political control over more routine staffing and budgetary matters, amongst other things. The Joint Supervisory Body oversees data protection in Europol and has two representatives from each participating state's data protection supervisory body.

Financial supervision over Europol is aided by a committee of auditors drawn from the membership of the European Court of Auditors and known as the Joint Audit Committee. The Joint Audit Committee is not technically part of the European Court of Auditors as the Europol budget is not part of the overall EU budget. This unusual arrangement preserves the intergovernmental character of Europol.

The European Court of Justice has minimal jurisdiction over Europol with its remit extending only to limited interpretation of the Europol Convention.

The European Ombudsman, while not given a formal role in the Europol Convention, seems to have gained de facto recognition as an arbitrator in Europol matters relating to requests for access to documents and Europol staff disputes.

Cybercrime

On 1 January 2013, was launched the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), which is aiming to tackle those cyber-crimes:

• Committed by organised groups to generate large criminal profits such as online fraud
• Causing serious harm to the victim such as online child sexual exploitation
• Affecting critical infrastructure and information systems in the  EU.

The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3 or EC³) is an organization of the European Union attached to Europol in The Hague. The purpose of the centre is to coordinate cross-border law enforcement activities against cybercrime and act as a centre of technological expertise.It is tasked with assisting member states in their efforts to dismantle and disrupt cyber crime networks and will also develop tools and provide training.

Cooperation with third countries and other bodies

The Director of Europol is able to enter into agreements for Europol with both countries and internal organizations. Europol cooperates on an operational basis with: Albania, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Republic of Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, the United States and Interpol.

It has strategic agreements with: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and World Customs Organization.