merrion street

I would like to thank the Committee for making time available to discuss

this motion today.

The motion relates to the exercise by the State of the option which Ireland

has to take part in the adoption and application of the proposed Regulation

of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Union Agency

for Law Enforcement Cooperation and Training (Europol) and repealing

Decisions 2009/371/JHA and 2005/681/JHA.

The legal basis for the Commission proposal is to be found in articles 88

and 87(2)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Article 88 of the Treaty provides that Europol shall be governed by a

regulation to be adopted by the ordinary legislative procedure.

Article 87(2)(b) provides that the European Parliament and the Council,

acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, may establish

measures concerning support for the training of staff, and cooperation on

the exchange of staff, on equipment and on research into crime-detection.

In consequence, the terms of Protocol no. 21, which we share with the

United Kingdom, whereby we have three months to exercise our option to take

part in the adoption and application of relevant measures, apply. I am

advised that the three month period will expire by 30 July. Accordingly, if

we are to exercise our option within the required timeframe, it is

necessary to obtain the prior approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas

before that date.

Members will be very familiar with the procedure in relation to Protocol

measures since a number of proposals which attract the provisions of the

Protocol have come before the House in recent years.

The proposal - as presented by the Commission - concerns two existing EU

agencies, Europol and CEPOL.

Europol's role is to support national law enforcement bodies in their fight

against serious crime and terrorism. Europol does this by exchanging

information between national services and providing analysis of data to

assist national services. The European Police College, CEPOL, facilitates

cooperation between national police services by organising and conducting

training with a specific European and international dimension.

The draft Regulation is, as regards Europol, the first substantial overhaul

for the organisation since its inception: the Council Decision of 2009 was

an institutional and legal update but did not present a change to the core

business of Europol.

Following publication of the proposal at the end of March, many Member

States expressed outright opposition to the proposed merger of Europol and

CEPOL. In short, there is a real concern on the part of Member States that

the merger of CEPOL into Europol may adversely impact on police training

given the primary intelligence focus of Europol.

During the Irish Presidency, we facilitated discussion of the proposal at

Ministerial and senior official levels. These discussions focused, in

particular, on the issues arising from the proposed merger. At the meeting

of the Council of Ministers in Luxembourg in June, there was significant

opposition to the merger and it was clear that no agreement would be

forthcoming on this aspect of the proposal. Accordingly, the Irish

Presidency asked the Commission to reflect on the outcome of the discussion

and reconsider the matter. In the meantime, the Irish Presidency decided

that formal consideration of the matter at working group level would

concentrate on the proposal as it relates to Europol and that the merger

issue need not be considered given the clear majority of Member States

already opposed to it.

The first working group meeting was held in June under the Irish

Presidency. The Lithuanian Presidency will continue the examination of the

proposal. There will be no consideration given to the merger issue. The

Member States expect the Commission to put forward alternative proposals in

relation to CEPOL in due course.

The proposal aims to:

1. Align Europol with the requirements of the Treaty of Lisbon,

increasing its accountability

2. Enhance the supply of information by Member States to Europol

3. Provide that Europol will take over and build on the tasks

currently carried out by CEPOL

4. Reinforce the data protection regime applicable to Europol, and

5. Improve the governance of Europol.

I would like to briefly comment on each of these aims.

Making Europol more accountable

The Regulation aims to ensure that Europol's activities are subject to the

scrutiny of both the European Parliament and the national parliaments. This

objective will be achieved by providing that the European Parliament and

the national parliaments receive information and reports and that the

Executive Director and the Chairperson of the Management Board can meet

with the parliaments to discuss Europol issues. In addition, the European

Parliament will have statutory functions in relation to the agency's budget

and work programme.

Enhancing the supply of information

The Regulation will strengthen the obligation of Member States to provide

data. It is also proposed to re-design how the agency processes data to

ensure that Europol is better placed to link and analyse data in order to

identify trends and patterns. All of this will be achieved with the highest

data protection standards possible.

Training

The Commission has proposed that Europol will build on the work of CEPOL

and assume new responsibilities in relation to police training. However, as

I have already mentioned, Member States expect the Commission to put

forward alternative proposals in relation to CEPOL in due course.

Data protection

The proposal reinforces Europol's data protection regime.

· Access by Member States to personal data will be on a hit/no hit

basis, accordingly data will only be supplied in response to a separate

follow-up request.

· Processing of data on victims and witnesses will be prohibited unless

strictly necessary.

· Rights of access to data will be reinforced.

· Any person can seek compensation for unlawful data processing.

· The European Data Protection Supervisor will supervise the processing

of data by Europol.

· National data protection authorities will continue to enforce the

rules relating to the input and retrieval of data by Member States.

Improved governance

The Board will be responsible for the budget and working procedures and, in

order to streamline the decision making process, the Board will be

empowered to establish a smaller Executive Board.

The text of the Regulation

I do not propose to go through the text in great detail but I think it

appropriate to present an overview.

Chapter 1 contains the general provisions.

Article 1 provides for the establishment of the agency, to be formally

known as the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation and

Training (Europol)

Article 2 provides for definitions of terms used elsewhere in the text.

Article 3 sets out Europol's objectives, foremost of which is to support

and strengthen action by competent authorities in the Member States in

preventing and combatting serious crime affecting two or more Member

States, terrorism and forms of crime which affect a common interest

covered by a Union policy.

Chapter 2 dealing with tasks related to law enforcement cooperation

contains five articles.

Article 4 provides for the agency's tasks. These include collecting,

storing, processing analysing and exchanging information and preparing

threat assessments. The agency will also provide technical support to

Member States' cross border operations and investigations.

Article 5 provides that Europol may participate in joint investigation

teams.

Article 6 provides that Europol may request Member States to initiate

criminal investigations. However, the decision to initiate

investigations will rest with the Member States.

Article 7 provides for Member States' cooperation with Europol. As is

the case now, Member States will establish National Units to act as the

liaison body between Europol and the competent authorities in the Member

State.

Article 8 provides for liaison officers to be assigned to Europol.

Currently, both An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners have

liaison officers based in Europol headquarters in The Hague.

Chapter 3 concerns tasks related to training for law enforcement officers.

Articles 9, 10 and 11 relate to training. Again, I have to make the

point that this aspect of the proposal will not now be considered by

Member States.

Chapter 4 deals with the organisation of Europol.

Articles 12, 13 and 14 deal with the composition and functions of the

Management Board. Each Member State shall nominate one member and the

Commission will be able to nominate two.

Article 15 provides that the Board shall adopt an annual work programme

and multi-annual work programme, both of which are to be forwarded to

the European Parliament, the Council, Commission and national

parliaments.

Articles 16, 17 and 18 provide for a Chairperson to be elected by the

Board, meetings of the Board (at least two per year) and voting rules

(decisions to be made by a majority of members).

Article 19 provides for an Executive Director (to be appointed by the

Management Board). The Executive Director will be responsible for the

day to day administration of the agency.

Article 20 provides for a Scientific Committee for Training which will

be an independent advisory body to guide the scientific quality of the

agency's training work. As with other sections dealing with training,

this aspect of the proposal will not be considered.

Articles 21 and 22 deal with the Executive Board which, if established,

will prepare decisions for adoption by the Management Board and also

have functions relating to the follow-up of findings and recommendations

stemming from evaluation reports and assisting the Executive Director in

the implementation of decisions of the Management Board. The Executive

Board will be composed of the Chairperson of the Management Board, one

representative from the Commission and three other members of the

Management Board (chosen by the members).

Chapter 5 deals with the processing of information.

Article 23 provides that Europol can only process information that has

been provided by Member States in accordance with their national law, by

Union bodies, third countries and international organisations (where

agreements have been entered into) and by private parties in accordance

with article 29.

Article 24 sets out what Europol can do with the information. Europol

can process information for the purposes of

· cross checking information to identify connections

· analyses of a strategic or thematic nature, and

· operational analyses in specific cases.

Article 25 provides that a Member State, EU body, a third country or

international organisation providing information determines the purpose

for which it shall be processed.

Article 26 provides that Member States shall have access to and be able

to search all information which has been provided in accordance with

article 24 for the purposes of cross checking and strategic and thematic

analysis. In relation to information provided for operational analyses

in specific cases, Member States shall have indirect access on a hit/no

hit basis.

Article 27 provides that Eurojust and OLAF should have access to Europol

information on a hit/no hit basis.

Article 28 provides that Europol has a duty, in certain circumstances,

to share information irrespective of any access restrictions. For

instance, Europol will supply information in the interest of preventing

an imminent terrorist attack.

Chapter 6 deals with relations with partners.

Article 29 sets out the procedures whereby Europol may establish

relations with other Union bodies, third countries and so on.

Articles 30 to 33 provide for the transfer and exchange of data.

Chapter 7 deals with data protection safeguards.

Articles 34 to 48 set out, in some detail, the data protection

safeguards to be put in place. These are comprehensive and are designed

to ensure the best possible regime of data protection consistent with

Europol's mission. Provisions cover processing of data, time-limits,

security, rights of access and rights to rectification etc.

Europol will have a Data Protection Officer who, in the performance of

his/her duties, will be obliged to act independently. Each Member State

will designate a national supervisory authority with the task of

independently monitoring the transmission and exchange of data between

the Member State and Europol. In addition, the European Data Protection

Supervisor will monitor and ensure the application of the safeguards

contained in the Regulation. Article 46 sets out the duties and powers

of the Supervisor.

Chapter 8 deals with remedies and liabilities.

Article 49 provides for a right to lodge a complaint with the European

Data Protection Supervisor.

Article 50 provides for a right to bring an appeal against a decision of

the Supervisor to the Court of Justice.

Articles 51 and 52 deal with liability.

Chapter 9 deals with parliamentary scrutiny.

Articles 53 and 54 deal with parliamentary scrutiny. The Chairperson of

the Management Board and the Executive director will appear before the

European Parliament to discuss matters relating to Europol. It also

provides that Europol will be obliged to provide the European and

national parliaments information relating to threat assessments,

strategic analyses and general situation reports.

Chapter 10 deals with staff.

Articles 55 to 58 deal with staffing matters.

Chapter 11 deals with financial provisions.

Articles 59 to 63 deal with financial provisions; the budget,

implementation of the budget, presentation of accounts and so on.

Chapter 12 deals with miscellaneous provisions.

Articles 64 to 72 cover a number of miscellaneous matters: Europol's

legal status, the seat of Europol (The Hague), privileges and immunity,

evaluation of Europol every five years and the conclusion of a

Headquarters Agreement between Europol and the Netherlands.

Chapter 13 deals with transitional provisions.

Articles 73 to 76 set out transitional arrangements concerning the

Board, senior office holders and the budget.

Chapter 14 deals with final provisions.

Articles 77 and 78 replace and repeal various measures and Article 79

provides for entry into force.

Concluding comments

The proposal seeks to create a Europol that is fit to address the

challenges of supporting and enhancing EU law enforcement cooperation for

the next 10-15 years (similar to the original Europol Convention that

provided the functional framework for its first 15 years).

Ireland is broadly supportive of the proposal. Our participation in Europol

is vital to our national interest and we look forward to continuing to

playing an active role with the agency.

I hope the Committee will support the Motion to exercise Ireland’s opt-in

to the negotiation of this proposal. It is essential that Ireland continues

to actively participate in Europol.

I need hardly add that any points raised by members of the Committee on the

European Commission proposal will be noted and will be taken into account

during the negotiation process. I look forward to your comments and to

your questions.

Thank you