“The current mandate of Europol is very demanding and challenging. Therefore, in my opinion, Europol should be first developed and reinforced within the current competence before expanding its functions,” stressed Minister of the Interior Kari Häkämies today in his speech at the Europol Headquarters in the Hague. Full operation of the European Police Office Europol got started on Thursday.

One of the objectives of the Finnish Presidency is to draft a concrete proposal for a Council Decision on how Europol will be developed in practice during the next few years. “We will also consider if it is necessary to revise some parts of the Europol Convention,” said Mr Häkämies.

The Europol Convention was signed as early as in 1995 and it came into force on 1 October 1998. People expected at that time that Europol would start its operation almost immediately after the entry into force of the Europol Convention. However, the operation did not get started until almost a year later.

The delay in launching Europol’s operation has also delayed cooperation negotiations with third countries and organizations. Finland will do its best so that the negotiations could be started as soon as possible with such countries and bodies as the first wave applicant countries and Interpol.

“One of the objectives of the Finnish Presidency is to conclude a proposal for a Council Decision on launching these negotiations. This should be done by the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council which will be held in October. Furthermore, our aim is to reach an agreement on the model agreement under preparation which will serve as the basis for the negotiations,” said Kari Häkämies.

Europol’s function is to help EU Member States prevent international crime, and prevent and fight against trafficking in nuclear and radioactive substances, illegal immigration, terrorism, and trafficking in human beings and stolen vehicles.

Europol has approximately 200 employees, 40 of whom are national liaison officers of EU Member States. These liaison officers exchange information relating to criminal intelligence between law enforcement authorities of EU Member States. Europol also makes reports and analyses, helps Member States implement various operations, and organises expert meetings to promote cooperation between Member States.