Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03BRUSSELS2375
2003-05-06 15:20:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Brussels
Cable title:  

EUROPOL - U.S. COOPERATION

Tags:  AINF KCRM KJUS EUN USEU BRUSSELS 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 002375 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR INL/PC; DOJ FOR OIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AINF KCRM KJUS EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: EUROPOL - U.S. COOPERATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 002375

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR INL/PC; DOJ FOR OIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AINF KCRM KJUS EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: EUROPOL - U.S. COOPERATION


1. Summary. The mission of Europol (the European Police
Office) has steadily expanded from its initial focus on
fighting drugs to encompass all serious crimes, including
terrorism, illicit migration, trafficking in persons, child
pornography, money-laundering and counterfeiting of the Euro.
Within the last year and a half the U.S. has signed two
cooperative agreements with Europol. While it is expected
that the initial flow of information will largely be from the
USG to Europol, these agreements will allow the U.S. to
develop a deepening cooperative relationship as Europol grows
in stature within the EU and acquires a more expansive role
in police work. This is being submitted as part of the
Mission's reporting plan. End summary.

Mission and Function of Europol


2. Europol is an evolving police institution of the European
Union whose primary mission at this time is to facilitate the
coordination and cooperation of member states in the field of
criminal law enforcement. At the present time it has limited
operational authority and its personnel do not arrest people
or engage in searches and seizures. Europol operates under
its own Convention which came into force on October 1, 1998.
Europol commenced its full activities on July 1, 1999.
Membership in Europol is part of the acquis; accordingly, all
accession countries will be members of Europol as part of
their obligation to adhere to the EU institutions and
principles. Through the pooling of information and data
concerning those aspects of crime which affect two or more of
their members, Europol is able, in theory at least, to
provide all members with better insight into the crime
problem they face and how best to respond to it. Europol's
"added value" to member states, in theory, lies in its
ability to perform critical analysis and to render
coordinative assistance to member states in fighting
primarily transnational organized crime and terrorism. Under
the Europol convention, all members must assign one or more
"liaison" officers to Europol headquarters in The Hague and
ensure that these officers have access on line to the various
police databases maintained by their respective country.
Noteworthy is the fact that member states are not pooling

their databases but merely making them potentially accessible
in one centralized location in The Hague. Within a
relatively short period of time, Europol has evolved from a
small entity with jurisdiction limited to the drug area to
its present jurisdiction over all serious crimes, including
terrorism, illicit migration, trafficking in persons, child
pornography, and money-laundering, with primary jurisdiction
over counterfeiting of the Euro. Europol is funded by
contributions from the EU Member States according to their
GNP. Its 2003 budget is Euro 55.5 million. There are
currently 386 staff members from all Member States. Of
these, 59 are Europol Liaison Officers representing a variety
of law enforcement agencies (police, customs, gendarmerie,
immigration services, etc.) The Directorate of Europol is
appointed by the Council of the European Union. The
Directorate currently consists of Director Jurgen Storbeck
(German) and Deputy Directors Willy Bruggeman (Belgium) and
Mariano Simancas (Spain).


3. Europol has improved its international law enforcement
cooperation by signing bilateral agreements with the
following non-EU states and international organizations: the
European Central Bank, the European Monitoring Center on
Drugs and Drug Addiction, Iceland, Norway, and the World
Customs Organization. It is currently in negotiations with
Canada.

Europol's Weakness


4. The Europol Convention is an extremely complex
instrument. It contains precise and cumbersome rules
concerning the handling of personal data, reflective of the
Union,s collective fears of massive human rights violations
by police organizations, which are not usually closely
controlled. While obviously a worthy objective, the rules
are so stringent with respect to the handling of personal
data as to make it extremely difficult for the organization
to function effectively. It is suggested that the same
objectives could be accomplished in a more efficacious
fashion so as to strike a more appropriate balance between
the security needs of the nation and the protection of human
rights.


5. Europol depends on others to provide it with the raw data
which form the basis of its analytical work. However, a
critical tenet of the Convention is that member states retain
control over their own data and dictate what is to be shared
with Europol and with member states through the Europol
process. Thus member states can and do withhold information
from Europol, which impedes its ability to perform its
assigned tasks. Nowhere is this more dramatically seen than
in the field of terrorism where, following the September 11
attack, the JHA ministers publicly criticized their own
organizations for not sharing critical data on terrorism with
Europol. Europol can only propose investigations to member
states but cannot compel such inquiries. Europol cannot send
out its officials to conduct interviews, perform searches or
make arrests. Europol is generally disliked if not despised
by many EU member police organizations. These organizations
tend to resent Europol,s existence and view it as criticism
of their own efforts at coordination, which they maintain,
have worked effectively over the years. In this regard, it
should not be forgotten that Europol is a political creation
and its establishment was not driven by perceived needs of
law enforcement but rather the political desire for greater
integration in the JHA arena. The JHA ministers are
consistently conferring more and more jurisdiction on
Europol. It is likely that the new EU Constitution (due to
be unveiled in June 2003) will provide Europol with some
limited operational role as well as the authority to order a
country to commence an inquiry. Over time, Europol could
evolve into the nucleus of a federal EU police structure.

Relations with the United States


6. In a relatively short period of time we have been able to
conclude and put into effect two agreements with Europol
which provide a legal basis for exchanging all forms of
information, including personal data. An outgrowth of the
events of 9/11, the initial agreement between the U.S. and
Europol was signed in Brussels in December, 2001, to enable
the sharing of strategic data and to facilitate cooperation
on joint threat assessments. The logical next step was a
follow-on agreement to allow the exchange of personal data.
The stringent data privacy restrictions imposed by Europol's
Convention, monitored by its Joint Advisory and Management
Boards, tempered assessments of the potential success of the
negotiations. These concerns were eventually addressed to
the satisfaction of Europol's data protection counselors and
the second agreement was signed in Copenhagen in December,

2002.


7. We are in the process of implementing these agreements
with all U.S. law enforcement agencies. Last year the JHA
ministers directed that Europol open a liaison office in
Washington. In August, two officers arrived in Washington to
take up this assignment. The precise terms of reference for
these officers are being developed on an interagency basis.
There is agreement within the USG that the National Crime
Bureau (NCB) in Washington should be the point-of-contact for
Europol. However, tensions still exist regarding the
exchange of information concerning terrorism; Europol wants
access to more case-related information. The U.S. does not
have a liaison officer assigned to Europol.


8. Comment. Europol's critical analysis of transnational
crime data coming from two or more EU Member States is an
"added value" to bilateral law enforcement agreements which
can provide information from only a single national
perspective. At least in the short run, it is anticipated
that U.S. agencies will be providing more data to Europol
than it will provide us. Nevertheless, the two U.S.
agreements will allow us to develop a deepening cooperative
relationship with Europol as it grows in stature within the
EU. This will prove useful in our joint fight against
terrorism. End comment.

SCHNABEL