Evaluation of the Implementation of the Europol Council Decision and of Europol’S Activities
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Evaluation of the implementation of the Europol Council Decision and of Europol’s activities Emma Disley, Barrie Irving, William Hughes, Bhanu Patruni Prepared for the Europol Management Board EUROPE The research described in this report was prepared for Europol Management Board. RAND Europe is an independent, not-for-profit research organisation whose mission is to improve policy and decision making for the public good. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. R® is a registered trademark. © Copyright 2012 Europol All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the copyright holder. Published 2012 by the RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202-5050 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665 Westbrook Centre, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1YG, United Kingdom RAND URL: http://www.rand.org RAND Europe URL: http://www.rand.org/randeurope To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact Distribution Services: Telephone: (310) 451-7002; Fax: (310) 451-6915; Email: [email protected] Preface This document is the final report of an evaluation of the implementation of the Europol Council Decision (ECD) and Europol’s activities. It has been commissioned by the Europol Management Board (MB) according to Article 37(11) of the ECD. The objective of this evaluation, as defined by the MB, is to conduct an independent and external assessment of the way in which Europol has implemented the ECD and of the impact of the ECD and the legislative framework in which Europol operates on the programmes and activities carried out by Europol. The evaluation may inform decision making about the content of a future Europol Regulation. This evaluation is based primarily upon three data sources: interviews with individuals working within Europol and in stakeholder organisations; focus groups with heads of the Europol National Units (ENUs); and a web-based survey whose respondents included law enforcement practitioners in Member States and countries outside of the European Union (EU; third States). These data sources were subject to corroboration and validation through a document review. Finally, an Expert Advisory Group, convened for the evaluation, supported the research team in assessing the evidence collected and also supported the drafting of conclusions and recommendations. The evaluation is conducted at a time of change in Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) within the EU. A number of initiatives and developments relating to European law enforcement cooperation are in progress, and a new legal basis for Europol (contained in a future Regulation), is anticipated. This report is written for the Europol MB, but may be of interest to EU and national level policymakers and practitioners operating in the field of international law enforcement cooperation, as well as researchers and scholars in this field. This evaluation has been conducted by RAND Europe in partnership with BlueLight Global Solutions. RAND Europe is an independent not-for-profit policy research organisation that aims to improve policy and decision making in the public interest, through research and analysis. RAND Europe’s clients include European governments, institutions, NGOs and firms with a need for rigorous, independent, multidisciplinary analysis. BlueLight Global Solutions is an independent UK limited company providing a ‘portal’ to world-class policing, criminal justice and national security expertise. It offers a range of services and support to police forces including business change/transformation i Evaluation of the implementation of the ECD RAND Europe programmes, strategic and specialist advice, consultancy business improvement and modernisation. It offers similar support to government departments and agencies concerned with policing and justice in the UK and overseas, and a range of services to commercial organisations operating in the police, justice, counter-terrorism and national security sectors. For more information about RAND Europe or this document, please contact: Dr Emma Disley Senior Analyst RAND Europe Westbrook Centre Milton Road Cambridge CB4 1YG United Kingdom Tel. +44 (0) 1223 353329 Email: [email protected] ii Contents Preface .......................................................................................................................... i Contents ..................................................................................................................... iii List of figures ..............................................................................................................vii List of tables ................................................................................................................ ix List of boxes ................................................................................................................. xi List of abbreviations ...................................................................................................xiii Executive summary ..................................................................................................... xv Summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations .......................................... xxi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ xxxix PART 1: BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH APPROACH ....................................... 1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction and background .......................................................... 3 1.1 Europol’s evolving legal basis ............................................................................. 3 1.2 The Europol Council Decision .......................................................................... 5 1.3 A future Europol Regulation ............................................................................. 5 1.4 The European policy context ............................................................................. 6 1.5 Objective of this evaluation ............................................................................... 8 1.6 Research questions ............................................................................................. 9 1.7 Evaluation Steering Committee ....................................................................... 12 1.8 Structure of this report .................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2 Overview of research approach, its strengths and limitations ......... 15 2.1 Description of data collection methods ............................................................ 16 2.2 Expert Advisory Group .................................................................................... 26 2.3 Validation discussions and submissions ........................................................... 27 PART 2: FINDINGS ON OPERATIONAL ISSUES ................................................. 29 CHAPTER 3 Europol’s effectiveness, legal basis and status as an entity of the EU ............................................................................................ 31 3.1 A positive report on Europol’s work and effectiveness ...................................... 32 3.2 The Europol Council Decision brings Europol closer to the European Union ............................................................................................................. 37 iii Evaluation of the implementation of the ECD RAND Europe 3.3 The