EUROPOL: Coordinating the Fight Against Serious and Organised Crime : 29th Report of Session 2007-08 - Report with Evidence

This report from the European Union Committee looks at Europol (the European Police Office) and its efforts in coordinating the fight against serious and organized crime.

Europol began in 1999 and will, by 2010, be established as an agency of the European Union (EU).

The Council Decision bringing about this change in its' constitution has made some amendments to its' powers, working methods and governance but, in the Committee's view, represents a missed opportunity.

The Committee sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations, including the Committee finds it is a matter of concern that four-fifths of the information exchanged by national liaison officers stationed at Europol is exchanged without actually going through Europol and is therefore not added to Europol's database.

Member States are reluctant to share sensitive information.

The Committee believes that Member States should station at Europol only officers and officials with a high security clearance.

A success for Europol has been the analysis of information to help investigate particular categories of crime and following the UK's influence in focusing on organized crime in particular. The Committee believes that other Member States need to be persuaded on the importance of planning for future threats.

The Committee also believes that the existing structure for the governance and management of Europol could be enhanced by clarifying the respective duties of the Director and Management Board.

Further, the Committee states that if the Treaty of Lisbon came into force, accountability of Europol to the European Parliament and national parliaments would improve.