Europol

Abstract

Europol is the EU agency based in The Hague (the Netherlands), with the main tasks of analysing intelligence and criminal information, and supporting transnational police operations undertaken by the Member States in order to prevent and combat organised crime, terrorism and other forms of serious crime.

At operational level, Europol acts as a hub for the collection and analysis of intelligence and police information received from the Member States. This information is crucial to identify the modus operandi and movements of existing criminal organisations and networks, and agree on common actions, operations and Joint Investigation Teams to tackle them.

At strategic level, the intelligence and police information collected and analysed by Eurojust is extremely useful for the identification of new trends of criminality threatening the security of the citizens of the EU. The results of this analysis are reported to the EU institutions (the Council, the Counter-Terrorist Coordinator, among others) and the Member States in order to coordinate preventive and repressive actions to tackle them in the framework of the EU policy cycle for serious and organised crime.

Europol has a tailor-made set of rules for the processing and protection of information and personal data, including rules for their transmission, under certain conditions, to other EU bodies and third States.