§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy towards extending the(a) competence and (b) executive powers of Europol. [68335]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe Europol Convention gives Europol the power to deal with a full range of serious international crime where an organised criminal structure is involved. This includes drug trafficking, people smuggling, crime committed in the course of terrorism, counterfeiting and money laundering. The Government would look sympathetically at any proposal to extend
224WEuropol's competence to cover other forms of serious organised international crime, provided a need had been identified, and Europol could add value.
Europol does not have executive police powers in the member states. The Government would not support giving Europol such powers. Europol's role is to support member states own law enforcement operations by, for example facilitating the exchange of information between the member states and analysing information and intelligence.