New Europol Regulation
PURPOSE: to revise the Europol Regulation with a view to strengthening its role in supporting Member States in preventing and combating serious and organised crime and terrorism in an increasingly complex and cross-border security environment.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: Europol was established by the 1995 Europol Convention, integrated into the EU legal framework in 2009 and further strengthened by Regulation (EU) 2016/794. It has evolved into the EU's central analytical and operational hub, supporting Member States in preventing and combating serious and organised crime and terrorism through intelligence sharing, cross-border cooperation and operational support.
The proposal repeals and replaces Regulation (EU) 2016/794 establishing Europol with a new Regulation reflecting the Agency's expanded mandate and evolving operational, analytical and technological role. It introduces a modernised legal framework to clearly define Europol's responsibilities, enhance legal certainty, accountability and operational flexibility, and provide a coherent basis for its reinforced powers, particularly in data processing. Given the extent of the changes required, the existing Regulation is replaced in its entirety rather than amended incrementally.
This revision is part of a broader legislative package (see COD/2026/0164 on the revision of Eurojust) intended to ensure a high level of security across the EU through measures that prevent and combat crime, and that foster coordination and cooperation between competent authorities in the criminal justice domain.
CONTENT: the Commission is proposing to strengthen Europol’s mandate by enhancing information exchange, embedding cutting-edge technology at the heart of its operations, deepening support to Member States, and reinforcing cooperation with EU agencies and international partners. It establishes a strengthened legal framework for Europol, reflecting the evolution of cross-border criminal threats and the operational needs of Member States. It aims to strengthen Europol’s role as:
- an EU information hub capable of ensuring that Member States law enforcement authorities are provided with a more complete and integrated criminal intelligence picture at EU level;
- an operational hub supporting Member States more effectively and at an earlier stage in cross-border investigations and operational activities; and
- a technology and innovation hub supporting Member States with advanced capabilities, expertise and operational tools.
The proposal strengthens Eurojust across the following key areas:
- more efficient and secure information exchange: automated and faster information sharing will enable real-time collaboration on investigations. Europol will establish a secure, scalable and sovereign cloud infrastructure, and a Police Shared Data Space, so investigators can work jointly – virtually – on common cases;
- stronger operational support for Member States: Europol Support Offices will be set up in Member States and staffed by police officers who have previously worked at Europol. This will ensure better use of Europol support and tools (e.g. in forensics and data analysis and by facilitating access to Europol's systems);
- a technology and innovation hub, providing for the first time an EU-wide picture of capability needs for law enforcement. It will also support Member States' investment in joint research and development. This will help Member States invest together in critical technologies and ensure access to advanced capabilities. The tools developed will be made available via the European Police Shared Data Space directly to Member States' law enforcement authorities;
- stronger cooperation with EU agencies and bodies (notably with Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor's Office);
- reinforced international cooperation with partner countries to jointly tackle global cross-border crime.
Budgetary implications
The proposal is expected to require around EUR 1.053 billion in additional EU funding to strengthen Europol's role as an information, operational and technology hub, notably by enhancing data-processing, analytical, operational and digital capabilities. No additional governance expenditure is foreseen due to the simplification of administrative procedures. Member States are expected to incur implementation costs of approximately EUR 590 million over the first seven years, mainly to adapt national systems, workflows and technical interfaces to enable closer integration with Europol's systems and tools.