BRUSSELS, 24 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Twenty-seven have given the green light on Tuesday to the agreement reached between institutions last February to give more powers and resources to the European Agency for Police Cooperation (Europol), with the aim of improving its support to the Member States and its capacity to fight against organized crime and terrorism throughout the European Union.
The goal is for Europol to have the right tools to support the police forces in the analysis of Big Data during criminal investigations and in the development of pioneering methods to prosecute cybercrime, as defended by Brussels when the negotiators of the Council and the European Parliament achieved the principle okay.
The strengthened mandate will come into force next June and will allow Europol to develop new technologies for law enforcement and cooperate with private companies on investigations.
The revision of the powers of the European police cooperation agency provides that it can receive data directly from private companies and compare them to identify which Member States could open investigations against related crimes.
Thus, Europol will be able to carry out research and innovation projects, process large data sets and help national authorities to screen foreign direct investment in security-related cases. In the case of sensitive content such as terrorist or child sexual abuse material, Europol may receive data from private companies, for example communication services.
To balance the new powers of the police agency with proper oversight, the co-legislators agreed that the agency will create a new post, that of fundamental rights officer.
In addition, the European Data Protection Supervisor will monitor Europol’s personal data processing operations and will work together with the agency’s Data Protection Officer. Citizens will be able to consult their personal data by contacting the authorities of the Member States or directly with Europol
The European agency will also cover countries in the processing of data transmitted by third countries or international organizations and gains the ability to propose to a Member State that it introduce alerts on specific individuals into the Schengen Information System (II).