New Center | More Fortress Europe with Europol

On Tuesday, the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties and Citizenship also adopted its negotiating position on the reform of the Europol Regulation by a large majority. It is the third component of an "anti-smuggling package" presented by the EU Commission in November 2023 – alongside a new directive on the prosecution of so-called "smugglers" and the formation of an international alliance against migrant smuggling. The member states had already adopted their position on the draft last year.

At the heart of the planned reform is a new EU regulation to "strengthen police cooperation and Europol support in combating smuggling and human trafficking." It is not intended to replace the existing Europol regulation, but rather to complement it. The most important pillar for the agency in The Hague is the creation of a "European Centre against Migrant Smuggling" – the expansion of an existing center with a similar name at Europol's headquarters. It was established in 2016 to monitor and analyze smuggling activities.

The new ECAMS should therefore not only be able to write reports or have online content that aids escape deleted, but also be allowed to participate directly in investigations – possibly even with specially formed task forces. This would allow, for example, participation in cross-border raids against so-called smuggling networks. However, the Members of Parliament have taken a stand against operational task forces. Whether this firewall will hold up in the negotiations for a final version of the regulation is questionable.

The expansion of Europol has been sharply criticized by the civil society coalition #ProtectNotSurveil , which is made up of twelve organizations. In a joint position paper, they state that the reform primarily serves to expand surveillance powers and criminalize people on the run. The network is particularly critical of the planned obligation of EU member states to pass on all relevant information on the topic of "smuggling" to Europol – a break with previous practice, in which national authorities could decide for themselves on the type and extent of data transfer. The organization PICUM, which advocates for the rights of underage migrants, fears that the expansion of Europol would also endanger civil society support structures for refugees.

The Europol reform comes during a period of rapid expansion for the agency, which was launched in its current form in 1999. At the agency's 25th anniversary in July 2024, Europol employed approximately 1,700 people and had a budget of €223 million. An additional €50 million is now earmarked for Europol until 2027. Part of the funds will finance the modernization of the data network for European police forces and the new personnel for migration control. Around half of the additional money will go towards new systems for facial recognition, DNA analysis, and fingerprint data.

According to #ProtectNotSurveil, another criticism is that no additional funding has been provided for independent oversight mechanisms such as the European Data Protection Supervisor. An accompanying fundamental rights impact assessment for the Europol reform is also missing – even though EU directives require this for such far-reaching interventions.

For this reason, Parliament commissioned its own impact assessment, which revealed clear points of criticism : The Commission's proposal problematically conflated the issues of "smuggling" and "human trafficking." Furthermore, unclearly defined new task forces could complicate existing cross-border police work.

Another sensitive issue is the planned intensified cooperation with Frontex. This also involves internet surveillance and the collection of personal data, which initially had to be stopped following an intervention by the European Data Protection Supervisor. Frontex told "nd" that since 2023, as required, data derived from social media has only been transferred to Europol in exceptional cases – after rigorous case-by-case review.

The expansion of cooperation with third countries, for example through migration liaison officers, has also met with criticism from civil society organizations: Information from countries such as Libya or Egypt, where documented human rights violations against migrants occur, is to be increasingly incorporated into Europol's situation assessment in the future. The #ProtectNotSurveil coalition therefore warns against an "export of repression" by the EU.

However, the Europol reform has not yet been finally adopted. Following its adoption by the Committee on Civil Liberties and Home Affairs, Parliament's position will be formally announced in the plenary session in mid-June. If there are no objections, the so-called trilogue negotiations with the Council and the Commission will begin for a final joint regulation on "strengthening police cooperation and Europol support."

The conservative EPP group will not put any obstacles in the way of the further expansion of Europol in the trilogue – this was made clear by the group's negotiator, Jeroen Lenaers, who is also the rapporteur on the issue in the Committee on Civil Liberties and Home Affairs, before the vote.

"As a representative of the Left Party, I naturally voted against," Italian Ilaria Salis announced on Tuesday. "Even if opposition means sailing against the wind, we will always fight for freedom of movement and for safe and legal migration routes. Because without internationalism, the Left ceases to be left-wing—and becomes merely a faded copy of the Right," Salis explained her decision.