Memorandum by the Serious Organised Crime
Agency (SOCA)
SUMMARY OF
KEY POINTS
— Europol is playing an increasingly
important role in facilitating law enforcement cooperation in
the EU. Its value to UK law enforcement agencies is growing, although
it has not yet reached an optimum level.
— It is an expensive institution, claiming
€9.6 million in UK subscription costs and running to an overall
budget of some €64 million in 2008.
— As it enters an important stage in
its development, with significant statutory changes imminent,
leveraging significant UK influence over its future direction
will be important to our interests.
BACKGROUND
1. Europol is a EU law enforcement agency
established to improve the cooperation between Member States in
preventing and combating serious organised crime and terrorism.
Its primary functions are to facilitate the exchange of criminal
information between Member States through the provision of a "liaison
bureau" cooperation platform; to provide analytical support
to Member States of tactical and strategic value; and to provide
law enforcement expertise and technical support in its field of
competence. Europol's priority threat sectors are terrorism, international
drug trafficking, organised immigration crime, money laundering,
and fiscal and non-fiscal fraud.
2. The current headcount at Europol is 621
posts, 114 of which are liaison officers representing the 27 Member
States. Its current Director is Max-Peter Ratzel, a career police
officer from the federal police agency of Germany (BKA). He is
supported by three deputies, one each from Italy, Spain, and France.
The current budget of Europol is €63.92 million.
UK CONTRIBUTION
3. SOCA acts as the UK national unit for
Europol, maintaining an operational gateway to Europol's services
on behalf of UK law enforcement agencies. Nine officers staff
the UK Liaison Bureau at Europol. This team is led by a senior
manager from SOCA and also includes officers seconded from the
Metropolitan Police Service, HMRC, and the Scottish Drugs Enforcement
Agency, reflecting the breadth of UK's operational engagement
with Europol. The work of the UK Liaison Bureau is supported by
a team within the International Department of SOCA, based in London.
4. In 2007 the UK initiated 568 cases through
Europol, leading to operational results in all the major fields
of Europol's competence. This represents a 20% increase in caseload
over the last two years, reflecting a growth in Europol's capabilities
and in the understanding of its value within the UK community.
HMRC, in particular, in the field of missing trader intra-community
(MTIC) fraud and tobacco smuggling, are recent, worthwhile beneficiaries
of Europol's assistance.
5. UK subscription costs run to around 15%
of the Europol budget, which in 2008 amounts to €9.65 million.
In addition to the running costs of maintaining a large UK Liaison
Bureau at Europol this represents a significant financial commitment
to the organisation. Maintaining a tight grip on the growth of
this budget is a key UK priority, given the experience of above-inflation
increases over most recent years (see table below).
|
| 2002
| 2003 | 2004
| 2005 | 2006
| 2007 | 2008
|
|
| UK €m | 7.790
| 9.101 | 9.240
| 8.839 | 7.355
| 8.393 | 9.65[1]
|
| % of total | 15
| 16 | 16
| 15 | 12
| 13 | 15
|
|
6. UK influence over the governance of Europol is delivered
mainly through its participation in the Europol Management Board,
the UK delegate to which is a Deputy Director of SOCA. Within
the staff of Europol itself UK nationals occupy a relatively high
number of posts (36 in total) but none in the most senior positions.
There will be a competition later this year to appoint the next
Director of Europol. SOCA and the Home Office regard it as important
that Europol has strong, effective leadership. The UK will consider
nearer the time whether to put forward a UK candidate for the
position.
STRATEGIC COORDINATION
7. In 2005 the UK Presidency of the EU launched an initiative
to develop a European Criminal Intelligence Model (ECIM), based
on the UK's experience of the National Intelligence Model in UK
policing and the development of methodology that now underpins
the work of SOCA. ECIM was adopted by EU Ministers and immediately
implemented at Europol. Its chief instrument is the EU Organised
Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA), modelled directly on the UK Threat
Assessment (UKTA). The OCTA is now published annually by Europol,
informing JHA Council of the principal threats faced in the EU
and allowing Europol to facilitate joint operational responses
by Member States. Increasingly these responses take the form of
regional or sub-regional initiatives in Europe, in which a small
number of Member States, sharing a common, localised problem,
use Europol's centralised knowledge base and information systems
to help deliver effective operational actions. Sub-regional versions
of the OCTA, for example in the Balkans, are now being developed.
So the ECIM/OCTA model is ushering in a new phase in the development
of Europol, establishing the agency as a central intelligence
base in the EU supporting a range of sub-regional initiatives
around the EU. This approach is exactly in line with our aspirations
for the organisation.
8. Europol's cooperation levels with other key international
bodies are patchy. They are fitful with Interpol, with some issues
concerning shared responsibilities over the provision of certain
police services still unresolved. The relationship with Eurojust
has also yet to be fully formed, with an insufficient flow of
information between the two organisations. But the early signs
of cooperation between Europol and FRONTEX, the new EU border
agency, are encouraging. Meanwhile Europol delivers an important
supporting role to the agenda of the European Police Chiefs Task
Force (EPCTF), particularly in regard to the latter's operational
projects (so-called COSPOL initiatives), for which the Analysis
Work Files of Europol are critical. Further afield Europol has
signed over 20 cooperation agreements with countries and bodies
outside the EU, including the US, Australia, Canada, and Turkey.
Due to EU data protection requirements, limiting the extent to
which Europol can exchange personal data with third parties, many
of these agreements are restricted to "strategic" matters
only and have delivered little by way of tangible benefits. The
experience suggests Europol should spend less time pursuing such
external agreements and focus on delivering its goals within the
EU.
9. As to the strategic value of Europol in the future
its role and effectiveness in information handling is likely to
feature significantly. As it grows its own data holdings the ability
to cross match those with the information held by other EU agencies
and on other systems, such as the Schengen Information System
and EURODAC, could have a significant bearing on Europol's functions
and capabilities. Managing this opportunity will be a very important
part of its immediate future, particularly within the context
of recent or emerging EU initiatives, on the principle of availability
and the "Swedish Initiative" etc. Europol is well placed
to deliver a central analytical capability bridging these data
sets and identifying operational leads that would otherwise be
lost. This could be a key part of the future internal security
architecture of the EU, although significant issues around data
protection and security would need to be overcome first. Certain
cultural and other impediments, which currently limit the supply
of information from some Member States to Europol, would also
need to be lifted.
OPERATIONAL VALUE
10. The two greatest operational assets of Europol are
its liaison bureau platform and its collection of analysis files.
All 27 Member States use the former regularly to expedite cross-border
casework, with over 7,600 cases handled via this channel in 2007.
This platform is due for an IT refresh with a new system (SIENA)
under development. For many Member States this platform is the
only substantial means they have to conduct their operational
work with EU partner agencies, with the new EU Member States from
the east making good use of the capability especially. In the
case of the UK the use of this cooperation platform is set alongside
others available, including the large network of bilateral SOCA
Liaison Officers around the world. The unique value offered by
the Europol network derives from the co-location of liaison officers
from all 27 Member States in one centre, allowing in particular
for operational coordination across multiple (ie more than two)
borders. This works well for the UK in over 500 cases each year.
Notable successes in recent years include the disruption of a
criminal organisation involved in international drug trafficking
and money laundering, operating across six countries, which led
in February 2008 to the arrest in London of 22 suspects, the seizure
of 125kg of cocaine, and the recovery of a substantial amount
of cash and firearms.
11. Member States also derive significant benefit from
18 Analytical Work Files (AWFs) currently run by Europol. These
are major strategic projects in Europol's areas of competence,
which Member States support through the provision of national
intelligence contributions. The UK is a member of 16 of these
projects and is currently applying to join another. The construct
and outputs of the projects lend themselves well to supporting
the requirements of the UK Control Strategy to combat serious
organised crime, a process led by SOCA. As in the case of these
AWFs the UK Control Strategy functions through the management
of a number of sector-based programmes (eg "upstream heroin",
"proceeds of crime"), most of which have a parallel
at Europol. Although the benefits have not yet been fully realised
SOCA is working urgently to exploit these synergies.
12. Alongside these analysis files Europol maintains
an Information System containing over 62,000 entries regarding
suspects, vehicles and other objects. It allows Member States
to search what is a central EU repository for serious organised
crime. Technical difficulties currently restrict the extent to
which the UK contributes and retrieves data from the system. These
are being addressed urgently by SOCA.
13. Two of Europol's analysis projects concern terrorism,
one of which is the only project at Europol supported by all Member
States. These projects help Europol to produce the annual EU Terrorism
Situation and Trend (TESAT) Report, the 2008 edition of which
has just been published. Though a little less advanced in methodology
than the OCTA it is, nonetheless, a useful report. The UK has
consistently supported Europol's remit in respect of terrorism
with a UK counter terrorist liaison officer providing expert support
since 1998. Currently the UK's CT liaison post is provided through
the posting of a Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command
(SO15) officer to the UK Liaison Bureau. He oversees the flow
of a significant amount of information to Europol from ongoing
UK investigations and operations and other sources. While the
MPS/SO15 provides much of this data, an increasing amount of operational
data is also provided by the recently established regional CT
Units, most significantly the Greater Manchester Police CTU.
14. In addition the UK is increasingly taking advantage
of the analytical resources offered by Europol to the extent that
a number of ongoing CT investigations and operations are now directly
supported by Europol analysts working closely with UK colleagues.
This level of support and cooperation has recently seen Europol
analysts deploy to the UK during the search and arrest phase of
an operation to provide direct "live time" support to
the investigation.
GOVERNANCE
15. In terms of its governance and the development of
new thinking our experience is that Europol tends to be conservative,
rules-based and anxious to consult the Management Board at every
turn. Given the bureaucratic drag of this last point, in particular,
the levels of responsibility shared between the Director and the
Management Board ought to be rebalanced more in favour of the
former. We think the Draft Council Decision has not gone far enough
to address this point, although some of the changes envisaged
for the Management Board will make a helpful difference.
16. The leadership of Europol was recently heavily criticised
in an independent audit of the organisation, which reported on
significant levels of dissatisfaction among staff members and
some Member States. With the advice of the Management Board this
is being urgently addressed through an appropriate action plan.
17. The current chairman of the Europol Joint Supervisory
Body (JSB) is Mr David Smith formerly a Deputy Commissioner in
the UK's Information Commissioner's office. SOCA generally welcomes
the influence of the JSB—because it is a driver for high
data handling standards and helps to guarantee Europol's data
integrity which is vital to maintaining credibility when dealing
with the most sensitive personal data. The UK Liaison Bureau at
Europol is subject to inspection under the UK regime as part of
SOCA—and this is carried out on a regular basis.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
18. Under the terms of a draft Council Decision a new
legal base for Europol will be established in 2010, replacing
the Europol Convention. It is designed to consolidate the legal
basis for Europol (incorporating some amendments to the Convention
including the Three Protocols in a primary text) and to establish
different arrangements in regard to funding and tasking. The main
changes are as follows:
a. Europol will be funded from the general budget of the EU;
b. Europol staff will be subject to Community Staff Regulations;
c. The Council, acting by qualified majority after consulting
the European Parliament, may amend existing rules or introduce
new ones;
d. The Management Board Chair will be elected for 18 months
(rather than following the six months of the EU Presidency as
at present).
19. Although Europol funding will be drawn from the general
budget of the EU the Management Board will still be the primary
debating instrument in setting annual amounts. It remains to be
seen how much influence will be retained at this level, rather
than through the normal apparatus in Brussels, but in light of
the above-inflation increases in Europol's budget in recent years
this is a very important issue for the UK.
20. Allied to that is the prospect of what increased
budgetary influence in the European Commission may bring in terms
of setting new tasks for Europol. Commission influence will certainly
increase after the implementation of the Decision in 2010, even
if the Director and the Management Board will still be the primary
actors. Meanwhile the Council Decision has been drafted to define
carefully Europol's role and to curtail any operational aspirations
it may have. The decision envisages that Europol should be able
to widen its data collection and analysis systems subject to a
specific and strictly implemented data protection regime to ensure
it remains fit for service in supporting Member States in the
fight against organised crime and terrorism. SOCA judges that
the influence of Europol will continue to grow—so long as
its professionalism and integrity remains undamaged. The latter
depends on it demonstrating increased value for money over the
next few years.
1
As at 1 May 2008 €8 million of this total has been called
up by Europol under an arrangement in which 85% of subscription
costs are paid at the start of the year by Member States and the
balance later depending on the implementation rate of the budget Back
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