§ 1. Shona McIsaac (Cleethorpes)What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Europol in combating organised crime. [85564]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Kate Hoey)Europol is already providing valuable support to member states in their efforts to tackle organised crime. Its role will become even more important when it takes up its full range of activities, which we hope will be on 1 July.
§ Shona McIsaacI thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Will she explain the particular role that Europol will play in the fight against drug trafficking? Does she acknowledge that we need the co-operation of European Union member states if we are to be successful in that fight against drugs, and that we shall never be successful if we go it alone?
§ Kate HoeyMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. The fight against organised criminals who trade in drugs is an 2 extremely important task for Europol, as it was for Europol's precursor, the Europol drugs unit. Recently, there have been some very successful operations in which, as a result of intelligence from the Europol liaison officers, about 207 kg of cocaine was seized in Spain. Europol will be able to do a most important job, which will mean that our streets will be safer and that fewer people will suffer as a result of drugs going into our constituencies.
§ Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale)Chastened by her party's drubbing in the European elections, when people voted to be in Europe, not run by Europe, does the hon. Lady acknowledge the constructive role of the previous Conservative Government in the creation of Europol, and that the success to which she has just referred is based on co-operation between member Governments? Is it not true that the worst possible development for Europol would be to bring it and the criminal justice system into the competence of the European Commission—a discredited commission that cannot even deal with fraud in its own affairs?
§ Kate HoeyIt is correct that the previous Government played a most important role in the setting up of Europol, as the hon. Gentleman points out. The United Kingdom was the first country to sign the Europol convention. We are absolutely clear that Europol's powers will be operative, not operational; its staff will not have powers to arrest people or to initiate investigations independently, nor will they operate in the territory of member states, except in a support capacity. In view of that, we can all support the work that Europol will do to make our country safer from criminals—particularly from organised criminals.