Around 130 liaison officers from all EU and Schengen states, various third countries and the Interpol General Secretariat have set up their offices at Europol. The liaison officers exchange information, coordinate cross-border operational measures and contribute to Europol's core business of operational crime analysis. They also participate in numerous Europol projects.
The European Police Office Europol was established in 1998 by a Council Decision of the Heads of State and Government of the European Union and is based in The Hague, Netherlands. It supports the 28 EU member states in the fight against serious forms of international crime and terrorism. Europol works together with numerous partner countries outside the EU and with international organizations. Europol is always responsible when organized crime, terrorism or other forms of serious crime are involved and two or more EU Member States are affected.
The Europol information system
With the Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA), Europol provides Member States with a system through which information can be exchanged quickly and securely. In addition, the Europol Information System (EIS) provides data on criminals that can be accessed by the Member States or compared with other data.
"The networking of European police forces and cooperation based on trust are a prerequisite for the success of an efficient fight against crime. We are therefore very interested in being represented as strongly as possible by officers from the NRW police among the German representatives at Europol," says State Director of Criminal Investigation Dieter Schürmann.
"National agencies"
So-called "National Units" for Europol have been set up in all EU Member States. They serve as liaison offices between Europol and the central offices of the other Member States. The "National Unit" for Germany is the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). It sends police officers from the 16 German federal states to Europol as German representatives. The "Europol Coordination" department selects the officers, who first undergo a work shadowing phase.
Selection procedure
Once a year, the BKA organizes a three-day preparatory seminar for interested officers. The aim is to prepare participants for a work shadowing at Europol and for the selection procedure for a Europol post. In this seminar, the main provisions of the EU Council Decision relating to Europol, the organizational structure and the tasks and powers of Europol are taught.
On the third day, the newly acquired knowledge is tested in a two-hour exam in English and an interview with an interpreter from the BKA. The aim is to assess the applicants' language skills and, if necessary, to improve them before they take up their post in The Hague. The internship plan is drawn up on the basis of the test results. The interns themselves agree the period of their internship at Europol and the area of assignment directly with the Coordination Unit.
The first weeks in The Hague
At the beginning, the so-called "Newcomer's Training" takes place. This is an intensive training course on how to use the Europol Information System (EIS) and the Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA) communication tool, among other things. Participants also learn about security instructions as well as legal and general rules for working at Europol.
If you want to experience Europol for yourself, you can apply for the Federal Criminal Police Office's (BKA) work shadowing program. A three-month work shadowing program is the first step towards a later assignment at Europol. There are three places available per quarter.