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European Parliament gives green light to reinforcing Europol powers

Xinhua, May 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

New oversight rules for the EU police agency Europol were approved by the European Parliament (EP) here on Wednesday, allowing Europol to step up efforts to fight terrorism and cyber crime.

"The new rules for Europol are a powerful legislative tool that will help to enhance security for European citizens," said Spanish center-right member of European Parliament Agustin Diaz de Mera.

Europol's new powers will go hand-in-hand with stronger data protection safeguards and parliamentary scrutiny, he added.

The new regulations governing Europol, passed at its second reading, are the culmination of three years of negotiations, during which disagreements on data protection and the right to privacy were often at the forefront.

Likely to take effect from May 2017, the rules will allow Europol to be able to exchange information directly with private entities, such as firms or NGOs, in order to work faster.

For example, the agency's Internet Referral Unit could contact a social network provider, such as Facebook, directly to ask that a web page run by potential extremists be deleted.

The police agency will also be able to set up specialized units to respond immediately to emerging threats, and clear rules will be established for existing units, such as the European Counter Terrorism Centre, which started work on Jan. 1 this year.

To avoid information gaps in the fight against organized crime and terrorism, the new rules make it the duty of EU member states to provide Europol with the data it needs.

This will be welcomed by many people concerned about security in Europe. Investigations into the Paris and Brussels attacks highlighted serious gaps in information sharing and coordination among EU countries.

Europol itself is to report annually to the EP, the EU Council and Commission as well as national parliaments, on the information provided by individual member states with a view to demonstrating the advantages of greater information sharing.

The European Data Protection Supervisor will monitor Europol's work and there will be a clear complaints procedure for citizens under EU law.

Europol's work will be overseen by a Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group, with members from both national parliaments and the EP. Enditem