Celebrating our 25th anniversary with Europol in Brief

Today, Europol marks its twenty-fifth anniversary. Back on 1 July 1999, we became fully operational and appointed the first Europol Director, Jürgen Storbeck, from Germany. This milestone in 1999 occurred following the ratification and adoption by all Member States of the legal acts provided for in the Europol Convention. In 2006, while Max-Peter Ratzel, from Germany, was Director of Europol, we established the OCTA, which later became the SOCTA, one of Europol’s flagship reports.

Of the many key milestones along the road, 2010 marks a particularly important date as Europol officially became a full EU Agency within the EU’s competence. Following the terrorist attack in Paris in November 2015, Europol’s Director Rob Wainwright (United Kingdom) set up the counterterrorism Task Force Fraternité. This Task Force led to the launch of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) in 2016. Other centres that followed this example were the European Migrant Smuggling Centre (EMSC), European Serious Organised Crime Centre (ESOCC), and the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC). The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) was already created in 2013. In 2019, we were mandated by ministers from all EU Member States to create an Innovation Lab to support the law enforcement community in the area of innovation. Read more about Europol’s history on our website.

Serious and organised crime has changed since 1999 and adapted to new technologies and a globalised world. Between 1999 and 2024, we witnessed the advent of the Internet, cybercrime, cryptocurrencies, as well as 3D-weapons printing, and more recently AI and quantum computing. Fast-forward to today, with Executive Director De Bolle at the helm, we continue to provide a first-level response to law enforcement and initiate relevant emergency protocols on a 24/7 basis. 

One of the many successful cases in which we supported EU Member States was Operation LIMIT, in 2021, in which Europol supported investigators in Belgium, France and the Netherlands in blocking the illegal use of Sky ECC encrypted communication by large-scale organised crime groups. More of our key achievements and ways of working are listed in the Europol In Brief, published today to mark our twenty-fifth anniversary. 

This publication highlights key facts and figures about Europol in 2024. As of today, we have almost 300 liaison officers from EU Member States and third parties, such as international organisations and law enforcement authorities from outside the EU, working with us. Our workforce now stands at over 1 700 people, and we have over 3 000 secure lines to competent law enforcement authorities via our secure information exchange network application, (SIENA).

Our recently-adopted new strategy ‘Delivering Security in Partnership’, provides six objectives that highlight the change in our work since we started 25 years ago. The strategy outlines how Europol will update its capacities to support complex, cross-border law enforcement investigations and analyse an increasing amount of relevant data. Europol’s six objectives will guide the organisation in implementing our main goals and vision, and in delivering a unique set of operational services.

Throughout the rest of this special year for Europol, a number of events and activities will take place to celebrate our anniversary. The events will culminate in September with the European Police Chiefs Convention organised at Europol’s headquarters.