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Europol Essay

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Given the capacity of terrorism and organised crime in the European Union (EU) law enforcement agencies need an effective and co-operative international response, and in particular, counter-terrorist strategies across the EU. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 proposed the establishment of a new focal point in tackling such matters, and this has become realised with the establishment of the European Police Office, or Europol.

The establishment of Europol was first agreed upon on February 7, 1992 in the Treaty on European Union, also called the Maastricht Treaty. Article K.3 of the Treaty concerned the Establishment of a European Police Office, specifying the new body’s governance structure and its function to facilitate cooperation among …show more content…

The collection and distribution of data on people’s behaviour and movements has been a long-standing concern in Europe ever since the development of the so-called Schengen Information System, which had been in operation since 1995 and was later brought under control of the EU (Winer, 2004).

Europol and Counter-Terrorism

Besides the past history of political policing from the 19th century onwards, the modern era of European counter-terrorism can be located in the 1970s. The Terrorism, Radicalism, Extremism, and International Violence group, or TREVI group, was formed in 1975 by European police officials, who initially convened on the basis of a Dutch initiative that year, to exchange information and provide mutual assistance on terrorism and related international crimes. In 1993, the TREVI Group and other European institutions dealing with judicial, customs, and immigration issues were brought together in one new structure under Title VI of the Treaty of European Union. Title VI concerned all the compensatory measures that would have to be taken once the removal of border controls between the member states of the EU had been accomplished (Benyon, 1997). In 1997, a counter-terrorism preparatory group was created to formulate Europol’s role in matters of counter-terrorism (Rauchs & Koenig, 2001). Successively, the EU Council of Ministers signed the Amsterdam Treaty that approved an extension of Europol’s mandate to

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