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#Europol: Declaration allows Danes and EU to continue fighting crime

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161215rasmusentuskjuncker2Pictured: President of the European Council, Donald Tusk; Prime Minister of Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen; and, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk and Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen made a joint declaration on Denmark’s relationship with Europol after April 2017, writes Catherine Feore.  

The declaration aims to minimize the negative effects of the Danish departure from Europol, following their referendum on 3 December 2015. The new arrangements will be specific to Denmark but will allow a "sufficient level" of operational co-operation necessary to fighting crime in Danish and European interest, subject to adequate safeguards.

The Danes will no longer have full access to Europol's data repositories, operational work or give decision-making rights in the governing bodies of Europol. It is hoped that the new measures can be adopted swiftly and will be in place by 1 May 2017.

Background

Last year’s referendum was on whether to convert Denmark's current opt-out on justice and home affairs into an opt-out with the possibility of opting-in to certain provisions similar to the current arrangement of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Lessons from the UK

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In October the UK, which is planning to leave the EU, agreed to adopt-in to new rules designed to strengthen Europol’s powers, in particular in the area of counter terrorism. At this point in time we do not know what the post-Brexit relationship of the UK will be with Europol and cooperation in the area of justice and home affairs, however what is clear is that Europol cooperation has produced enormous benefits in fighting crime.

While some Brexiteers may want to pull up the drawbridge it is unlikely that the UK will stop Britons travelling to the EU and EU citizens travelling to the UK. Criminals have shown that they have little respect for national frontiers. It is likely that the UK will maintain some level of involvement with Europol in future. Europol has non-member office liaison arrangements with many countries, including Albania and Switzerland.

What does Europol do?

Europol’s core purpose and focus is to support law enforcement authorities in their fight against serious and organized crime and terrorism.  Europol brings together its capabilities and expertise to deliver the most effective support to national investigations in its member states. It also has a number of cooperation agreements with countries outside the EU.

Europol has units specializing in combating cyber-crime, people trafficking, financial crime, property crime and counter terrorism, as well  as long list of operation dealing with everything from illegal tobacco smuggling to child sexual exploitation.

 

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