Criminal Police Directorate

Europol

MISSION

Europol, the European Police Office, is a specialised institution of the European Union whose task and purpose is to exchange information on criminal offences. Its aim is to improve the effectiveness of and cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States in preventing and combating serious international organised crime. The mission of Europol is to make a significant contribution in the areas of uncovering, preventing and prosecuting organised crime and combating the actions of organised criminal organisations.

HISTORY

The European Police Office (Europol) was established on 7 February 1992 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty of the European Union. Europol is based in The Hague, Netherlands. Europol commenced limited operations on 3 January 1994 as the Europol Drugs Unit (EDU). Initially, activities were focused on the fight against drugs with Europol's competences progressively expanded to include other important areas of crime. As of 1 January 2002, the functions of Europol were expanded to deal with all serious forms of international crime as listed in the annex to the Europol Convention. The Europol Convention was ratified by all Member States and came into force on 1 October 1998.

Following the adoption of several legal acts related to the Convention, Europol commenced its full activities on 1 July 1999.

TASKS

Europol supports Member States' activities regarding the exchange of information predominantly in the fight against:

• illicit drug trafficking,
• illicit immigration networks,
• terrorism,
• illicit vehicle trafficking,
• trafficking in human beings (including child pornography),
• forgery of money (counterfeiting of the Euro) and other means of payment and
• money laundering.

Other key priorities of Europol include crimes against life, bodily integrity and personal freedom, financial and property crime and cybercrime.

The basic prerequisites for the inclusion of Europol in activities are the area of crime and scope of tasks for which Europol has been given a mandate, the involvement of an organized criminal structure, and the fact that two or more Member States are affected by the types of crime in question in such a way as to require a common approach by the Member States or cooperation of at least two or more Member States.

Europol provides the Member States with the following services:

• Facilitation of rapid and unrestricted exchange of information in accordance with national legislation between Europol liaison officers (ELOs) and authorised officials, representatives of the Member States. ELOs are seconded to Europol by the Member States as representatives of their national law enforcement agencies which are involved in the detection and prevention of crime.
• Provision of operational analyses to the Member States in support of operations.
• Generation of strategic reports (e.g. threat assessments) and crime analyses on the basis of information and intelligence supplied by the Member States and third parties.
• Provision of expertise and technical support for investigations and operations carried out within the EU, under the supervision and legal power of the Member States on their respective territories.

Europol also analyses specific occurrences of types of criminal offences with the intention of seeking the best investigative practices, thus ensuring the harmonisation of investigative techniques in the Member States.

COOPERATION WITH NATIONS OUTSIDE THE EU AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

With the signing of bilateral agreements with the Czech Republic, Estonia, European Central Bank, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Iceland, Interpol, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and the World Customs Organisation, Europol has improved international cooperation regarding the areas of uncovering and preventing international crime. Europol has also opened an office in Washington.

CONTACT

Europol, Raamweg 47, The Hague
the Netherlands

Postal address:

PO Box 90850
NL-2509 LW the Hague

Tel.: +31 70 302 5000
Fax: +31 70 345 5896

E-mail: info@europol.eu.int

Website: www.europol.eu