Today, Frontex and Europol took another step towards strengthening the cooperation between the two agencies. Frontex’s Executive Director Hans Leijtens and the Executive Director of Europol Catherine De Bolle signed a joint statement, which will further increase the safety and security of the European Union.
The mandates of both EU agencies have been significantly enhanced in recent years, opening new possibilities to work together, particularly in the fields of migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
The joint statement outlines how the two agencies can better coordinate their activities to complement each other. The statement identifies concrete short and long-term priority actions.
In practice, Frontex’s role is to provide intelligence form its border surveillance and monitoring. Europol’s role is to provide a law enforcement response to organised cross-border crime and terrorism within the EU. In this context, close and efficient partnership between the two agencies is the way to succeed in common endeavours.
Frontex’s Executive Director, Hans Leijtens, said:
Our agencies complement each other and must support each other not only by exchanging operational information, but also in how we interpret and implement new laws and policies, such as the Commission’s proposal for the new Regulation on migrant smuggling. Today’s statement serves as the basis for closer cooperation, but I am already looking ahead towards the renewal of the Working Agreement with Europol. This will be the ambitious change-maker that will take our partnership to a higher level.
Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle, stated:
The joint statement we signed today marks a new chapter in our cooperation with Frontex. As the EU’s criminal analysis hub, Europol recognises the importance of bringing together relevant partners for cross-border cooperation and joint actions. We look forward to further combining our respective capabilities and strengths to realise the full potential of the enhanced mandates of both agencies.
Frontex and Europol have been working together to counter migrant smuggling, in risk analysis and in operations within the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).
Source – Europol