EU home affairs ministers agree on 10-point plan on the future of Europol
On 21 October, EU home affairs ministers agreed on a 10-point plan for Europol’s future during a virtual “Brotzeit”, or packed evening snack, organised by the German Council Presidency.
Their joint statement sets out the cornerstones for Europol’s future role in the European police partnership.
German Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community Horst Seehofer:
For police work to be successful, it must be possible to cooperate across national borders. Europol is already today an indispensable pillar of Europe’s security architecture. We want to further strengthen Europol as state-of-the-art service provider for all law enforcement authorities in Europe.
The European Commission has announced that it will present a legislative proposal by the end of 2020 on the future of Europol in the digital age. The EU home affairs ministers took this opportunity to set out their ideas on the future of the agency.
The EU home affairs ministers agree that the future development of Europol must be guided first and foremost by the needs of the law enforcement authorities of member states. Europol is a success model that needs to be strengthened further and geared up for future challenges:
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-Europol should be the central agency and the go-to information platform for combating crime in the EU, both within the EU and externally;
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-Europol should be a service provider for Member States - with strong, active input on matters of content and organisation from the Member States;
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-Europol should be a place for innovation - in forensics, artificial intelligence and big data analysis.
You can find the declaration of the EU home affairs ministers here:
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