Europol

On this page

1. Canada's involvement with Europol
2. How Europol assists Canadian investigators
3. When to contact Europol
4. Why contact Europol

Canada's involvement with Europol

Canada joined Europol in 2005 as a third party operational member. Canada is an active contributor of Europol. RCMP members and intelligence analysts are seconded at the Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. There is also a team of RCMP employees operating as the Europol National Contact Points. These employees are responsible for all requests for information and investigational support. They are located at the RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.

How Europol assists Canadian investigators

Europol makes it easier to exchange information between member states and third party countries, including Canada. RCMP liaison officers, who are located at Europol headquarters and the Europol National Contact Points in Canada, are responsible for these exchanges. They represent Canadian law enforcement as a whole on the European scale.

• With more then 100 Crime Analysts, Europol supports operations with operational analysis
• Europol offers support to over 40,000 international investigations each year for a wide variety of crime areas
• Europol generates strategic reports (for example, threat assessments) and crime analysis reports. These come from member states and third party countries who supply information and intelligence to Europol
• Europol provides support for investigations and operations carried out within the European Union. This occurs under the supervision and legal responsibility of the member states concerned
• Europol promotes crime analysis and co-operation of investigative techniques within its member states

When to contact Europol

Any Canadian law enforcement investigator can contact Europol via the Europol National Contact Points for:

• a specific request that has a European nexus or
• general information with a European nexus

Why contact Europol

Europol can be favoured over other international communication channels. This occurs when multilateral engagement with several European countries is required.

Aside from Europol's intrinsic analysis capabilities, in the form of Analysis Projects, Europol data may only be used for the purpose of preventing and combat crime.

Connecting with Europol in cases where a subject of interest may have strong ties to Europe has proven to be very useful in various cases. Appropriate caveats can offer the necessary protection to on-going investigative efforts.

Take a look at Europol's comprehensive list of Analysis projects.

We invite Canadian investigators to contact the Canadian Europol National Contact Points for any investigations or inquiries with a European nexus.