§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he plans to take to improve the democratic accountability of Europol; [54667]
(2) if he will make a statement on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the democratic control over Europol. [54668]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe Commission's Communication is a welcome contribution to the continuing debate on the democratic accountability of Europol. Under the terms of the Europol convention the Director is accountable to the Europol management board on which the individual member states are represented. The Commission's Communication concludes that the existing controls are not legally insufficient given the limited nature of Europol's powers.
The Government are consulting interested parties and will respond when the matter is next debated within the Council structure.