Conditions of Europol‘s force in combating terrorist threats

Abstract

Europol is the main platform of EU Member States crime intelligence cooperation, which use the information potential and experience of EU Member States national security agencies. The cooperation is vital for the public security of the EU area - understood as a form of multilateral international connections and channels of exchanging criminal information between national police forces, special services and other state and EU institutions responsible for public security. Europol has been present in policing for over 20 years, but its power to combat terrorism is still relatively unknown. In recent years there were many changes in the legal framework of Europol. To enhance Europol's mandate as the EU's central law enforcement agency and enable it to respond more rapidly to emerging international terrorist threats and serious and organised crime, the European Commission proposed a new regulation being line with the Lisbon Treaty. The proposal aimed to place the Agency under a new legislative framework and enhance its role as the central hub for information exchange. The new Regulation entered into force on 13 June 2016 and is being aplicated since 1 May 2017. The author presents the analyses of conditions influencing on Europol‘s force in combating terrorist threats. The issue is extremly complex due to Europol specific legal status, scope of operations and its location within the institutional system.