Illicit drug traffickingHISTORY
The creation of Europol was the result of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union, 7 February 1992.
3 January 1994-Formation of the Europol Drugs Unit, to fight illegal drug trafficking.
1 October 1998- Europol Convention ratified by all member states.
1 July 1999-Europol became fully operational
1 January 2002- Europol's mandate had been enlarged to also include serious international crime.
Mandate
Europol primarily supports member states in the following areas:
Illicit drug trafficking
Illicit immigration networks
Terrorism
Illicit vehicle trafficking
Trafficking in human beings including child pornography
Forgery of money (counterfeiting of the Euro)
Forgery of other means
of payment
Money-laundering.
Other areas also addressed by Europol include
Crimes against persons
Financial crime
Cyber crime.
Europol can become active when above
offenses
Involve an organized criminal structure
Affect two or more member states
Europol Assistance can be in the following ways:
Facilitating information exchange (in the manner permissible by national law) between ELOs.
Providing operational analysis in support of operations of member states
Generating strategic reports (threat assessment, trends,
etc.)
Crime analysis based on information and intelligence from member states, independently generated by Europol, or gathered elsewhere
Providing expertise and technical support for investigations and operations within the EU under supervision and legal responsibility of member state/s involved.
Europol also promotes crime analysis, and the standardization
of investigative techniques within member states.
NOTE: Practitioners involved
in the creation of Europol early on envisioned "operational authority"
for Europol units to undertake independent field investigations, surveillances,
arrests, etc., in specified cases. This "operational authority" was
seen as vital part in making Europol a success.
The Europol Computer System (TECS)
According to the Europol Convention, Europol provides an electronic information system to permit the input, access and analysis of data. The operation of such a system is required to conform to existing standards/laws regarding human rights and data protection, control, supervision and security.
The system consists of the following
components:
Information System
Analysis System
Index System
The
Organizational Chart of Europol
Off Line Link
The First Working Group (EDU)
Off Line Link
Management Control
Accountable to the Council of Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs.
The Council provides guidance and control
The Council appoints the Director and the Deputy Directors and approves the budget.
The Council of Ministers contains representatives from all Member States
Their decisions have to be unanimous
The Europol Management Board comprises one representative from each Member State, and has the overall task of supervising the activities of the organisation.
The Joint Supervisory Body, comprising of two data protection experts from each Member State, monitors the content and use of all personal data held by Europol.
QUESTION: Can you identify any problems resulting from the above structure?