Europol and the European Criminal Intelligence Model: a non-state response to organised crime

The EU has no powers to dictate to its member states how to structure their police forces or go about law enforcement. Rather, the governments are using the EU to get police and prosecutors across Europe to think and act together against organised crime; to agree common action against drugs and human trafficking in particular; and to bring national criminal laws closer. Despite differences between European legal systems, the EU has developed some innovative, but untested, ideas that respect national sensitivities, such as a non-state model for using pooled national criminal intelligence to plan joint operations. More remains to be done, particularly to develop the role played by EU bodies like Europol.