Europol is designed to operate in partnership with law enforcement agencies, government departments and the private sector.
Europol’s partnerships and external agreements take various forms, depending on the relationship the agency has with the country in question.
Its closest partners are the law enforcement agencies in the Member States of the European Union (EU), each of which has a designated Europol National Unit (ENU) that serves as the liaison between the authorities in that country and Europol.
Europol also works closely with a number of EU institutions and agencies on the basis of cooperation agreements.
In general, Europol cooperates with states and other entities outside the EU based on operational agreements, strategic agreements and working arrangements. Europol may also cooperate with these partners on the basis of an adequacy decision by the European Commission and/or EU Agreement(s) on exchange of personal data by Europol concluded by the Union pursuant to Article 218 TFEU. For more on this, see Europol's adequacy decisions.
Under the old legal regime governed by the Council decision of 6 April 2009, Europol concluded strategic and operational agreements. The main difference between the two is that operational agreements allow for the exchange of information including personal data but strategic agreements allow for the exchange of information excluding personal data, such as the exchange of general intelligence as well as strategic and technical information.
Since 1 May 2017, Europol no longer concludes any agreements which provide legal basis for the exchange of personal data. However, Europol is permitted to conclude working arrangements which, similar to strategic agreements, govern the practical aspects of exchanging non-personal data and regulate all the practical aspects of the cooperation.
The agency has also concluded other agreements with private companies.
Liaison officers
Conditions applicable to the cooperation with the UK since 1 January 2021. The EU and the UK have concluded a Trade and Partnership Agreement specifying the possibilities and conditions for their cooperation after the end of the transition period that followed the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020.
News: Conditions applicable to the cooperation with the UK since 1 January 2021
The system of liaison officers at Europol ensures that the interests of law enforcement agencies in the EU Member States and non-EU partners are represented in Europol’s headquarters.
Each Member State has a designated Europol National Unit (ENU), which serves as the liaison body between that the authorities in that State and Europol. Each ENU seconds at least one representative to Europol headquarters, where every Member State is provided with its own office.
The liaison officers are not under the command of Europol and its Director. In addition, they act in accordance with the law in their own Member State.
In addition, other states with which Europol has concluded cooperation agreements are represented by at least one liaison officer, as are Interpol and Eurojust. As a result, officers from 41 countries as well as Interpol and Eurojust are located in one place, thus facilitating communication among them, and between them their respective national authorities.
Europol also hosts liaison officers from the following United States law enforcement agencies:
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
- Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- US Agencies - US Treasury – Financial Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
- New York Police Department (NYPD)
- Secret Service (USSS)
- Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
This network of Liaison Officers communicates over SIENA system, a state-of-the-art tool that enables swift, secure and user-friendly communication and exchange of operational and strategic crime-related information and intelligence between Europol, Member States and third parties that have cooperation agreements with Europol.
Tags
- Law Enforcement
- Management & Control