Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS, OBJECTIVES AND TASKS OF EUROPOL

Article 1 Establishment of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation

1. A European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) is hereby established with a view to supporting cooperation among law enforcement authorities in the Union.

2. Europol as established by this Regulation shall replace and succeed Europol as established by Decision 2009/371/JHA.

Article 2 Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a)

‘the competent authorities of the Member States’ means all police authorities and other law enforcement services existing in the Member States which are responsible under national law for preventing and combating criminal offences. The competent authorities shall also comprise other public authorities existing in the Member States which are responsible under national law for preventing and combating criminal offences in respect of which Europol is competent;

(b)

‘strategic analysis’ means all methods and techniques by which information is collected, stored, processed and assessed with the aim of supporting and developing a criminal policy that contributes to the efficient and effective prevention of, and the fight against, crime;

(c)

‘operational analysis’ means all methods and techniques by which information is collected, stored, processed and assessed with the aim of supporting criminal investigations;

(d)

‘Union bodies’ means institutions, bodies, missions, offices and agencies set up by, or on the basis of, the TEU and the TFEU;

(e)

‘international organisation’ means an organisation and its subordinate bodies governed by public international law, or any other body which is set up by, or on the basis of, an agreement between two or more countries;

(f)

‘private parties’ means entities and bodies established under the law of a Member State or third country, in particular companies and firms, business associations, non-profit organisations and other legal persons that are not covered by point (e);

(g)

‘private persons’ means all natural persons;

(h)

‘personal data’ means any information relating to a data subject;

(i)

‘data subject’ means an identified or identifiable natural person, an identifiable person being a person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data or an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that person;

(j)

‘genetic data’ means all personal data relating to the genetic characteristics of an individual that have been inherited or acquired, which give unique information about the physiology or the health of that individual, resulting in particular from an analysis of a biological sample from the individual in question;

(k)

‘processing’ means any operation or set of operations which is performed upon personal data or sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;

(l)

‘recipient’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or any other body to which data are disclosed, whether a third party or not;

(m)

‘transfer of personal data’ means the communication of personal data, actively made available, between a limited number of identified parties, with the knowledge or intention of the sender to give the recipient access to the personal data;

(n)

‘personal data breach’ means a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed;

(o)

‘the data subject's consent’ means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of his or her wishes by which the data subject, either by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to personal data relating to him or her being processed;

(p)

‘administrative personal data’ means all personal data processed by Europol apart from those that are processed to meet the objectives laid down in Article 3.

Article 3 Objectives

1. Europol shall support and strengthen action by the competent authorities of the Member States and their mutual cooperation in preventing and combating serious crime affecting two or more Member States, terrorism and forms of crime which affect a common interest covered by a Union policy, as listed in Annex I.

2. In addition to paragraph 1, Europol's objectives shall also cover related criminal offences. The following shall be considered to be related criminal offences:

(a) criminal offences committed in order to procure the means of perpetrating acts in respect of which Europol is competent;

(b) criminal offences committed in order to facilitate or perpetrate acts in respect of which Europol is competent;

(c) criminal offences committed in order to ensure the impunity of those committing acts in respect of which Europol is competent.

Article 4 Tasks

1. Europol shall perform the following tasks in order to achieve the objectives set out in Article 3:

(a) collect, store, process, analyse and exchange information, including criminal intelligence;

(b) notify the Member States, via the national units established or designated pursuant to Article 7(2), without delay of any information and connections between criminal offences concerning them;

(c) coordinate, organise and implement investigative and operational actions to support and strengthen actions by the competent authorities of the Member States, that are carried out:

(i)

jointly with the competent authorities of the Member States; or

(ii)

in the context of joint investigation teams in accordance with Article 5 and, where appropriate, in liaison with Eurojust;

(d) participate in joint investigation teams, as well as propose that they be set up in accordance with Article 5;

(e) provide information and analytical support to Member States in connection with major international events;

(f) prepare threat assessments, strategic and operational analyses and general situation reports;

(g) develop, share and promote specialist knowledge of crime prevention methods, investigative procedures and technical and forensic methods, and provide advice to Member States;

(h) support Member States' cross-border information exchange activities, operations and investigations, as well as joint investigation teams, including by providing operational, technical and financial support;

(i) provide specialised training and assist Member States in organising training, including with the provision of financial support, within the scope of its objectives and in accordance with the staffing and budgetary resources at its disposal in coordination with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL);

(j) cooperate with the Union bodies established on the basis of Title V of the TFEU and with OLAF, in particular through exchanges of information and by providing them with analytical support in the areas that fall within their competence;

(k) provide information and support to EU crisis management structures and missions established on the basis of the TEU, within the scope of Europol's objectives as set out in Article 3;

(l) develop Union centres of specialised expertise for combating certain types of crime falling within the scope of Europol's objectives, in particular the European Cybercrime Centre;

(m) support Member States' actions in preventing and combating forms of crime listed in Annex I which are facilitated, promoted or committed using the internet, including, in cooperation with Member States, the making of referrals of internet content, by which such forms of crime are facilitated, promoted or committed, to the online service providers concerned for their voluntary consideration of the compatibility of the referred internet content with their own terms and conditions.

2. Europol shall provide strategic analyses and threat assessments to assist the Council and the Commission in laying down strategic and operational priorities of the Union for fighting crime. Europol shall also assist in the operational implementation of those priorities.

3. Europol shall provide strategic analyses and threat assessments to assist the efficient and effective use of the resources available at national and Union level for operational activities and the support of those activities.

4. Europol shall act as the Central Office for combating euro counterfeiting in accordance with Council Decision 2005/511/JHA(1). Europol shall also encourage the coordination of measures carried out to fight euro counterfeiting by the competent authorities of the Member States or in the context of joint investigation teams, where appropriate in liaison with Union bodies and the authorities of third countries.

5. Europol shall not apply coercive measures in carrying out its tasks.

(1)

Council Decision 2005/511/JHA of 12 July 2005 on protecting the euro against counterfeiting, by designating Europol as the Central Office for combating euro counterfeiting (OJ L 185, 16.7.2005, p. 35).