[libertysecurity.org] Europol,
the European Police Office responsible for coordinating the fight
against serious and organised crime, began operations from its
headquarters in The Hague in 1999. In January 2010 it will become an
agency of the EU. The Council Decision bringing about this change in
its constitution has made some amendments to its objects, powers,
working methods and governance. Many of these changes are beneficial,
so far as they go; but they do not go very far, and we believe this
represents a missed opportunity. The raison d’être
of Europol is the exchange of information for law enforcement purposes.
It is a matter of particular concern that four fifths of the
information exchanged by national liaison officers stationed at Europol
is exchanged without actually going through Europol, and hence without
being placed on Europol’s database and without being accessible to
Member States other than those directly involved. The reason is a lack
of trust: a reluctance on the part of Member States, especially at the
early stages of an investigation, to share sensitive information with
all Member States through the Europol channels. One way of improving
this would be for Member States to station at Europol only officers and
officials with the highest necessary security clearance.
