Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol (JPSG) on 23-24 September 2019, Brussels
The Fifth Meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol was co-organised and co-chaired by the European Parliament and the Finnish Parliament. The meeting brought together 65 Parliamentarians of 37 Parliaments/Chambers from 27 Member States and 12 MEPs from the European Parliament delegation to the JPSG, re-established following the European elections.
Over the years, Europol has provided indispensable support to Members States, in line with its mission to strengthen action by the Member States' police authorities and other law enforcement services in preventing and combating serious crime affecting two or more Member States. The JPSG carries out a unique form of political scrutiny of Europol, undertaken by the European Parliament, together with national Parliaments.
The agenda of the meeting featured a lively exchange of views with Ms De Bolle, the Executive Director of Europol, on Europol activities from March to September 2019, the Europol Draft Multiannual Programming Document 2020-2022 and the main challenges ahead, including budgetary ones. Parliamentarians gained valuable insight of the most recent activities of Europol from Mr Andrei Linta, Chairperson of the Europol Management Board and Ms Oana Florea, former JPSG co-chair, who reported on the Management Board meeting she was invited to attend.
Their presentations were followed by an in-depth exchange of views with the European Data Protection Assistant Supervisor and the Chair ofthe Europol Cooperation Board on the latest developments on the protection of personal data, with regard to Europol's activities. JPSG members paid tribute to late Giovanni Buttarelli, former European Data Protection Supervisor.
The second day of the conference continued with an extensive keynote address by the Minister of Interior of Finland Ms Maria Ohisalo on topics ranging from the internal security of the EU and the need to enhance EU information systems and their interoperability, to the fight against terrorism, improved border management, and the reform of the Common European Asylum System.
The thematic debate focused on Europol's information management priorities and the panellists were Mr Luis De Eusebio Ramos, Deputy Executive Director of Europol for Capabilities and Mr Anssi Kangas, Chief Superintendent of the National Police Board of Finland.
The most notable procedural development was the upgrade of the status of the Parliament of Denmark from the former status of observer to that of a Member with limited rights in the JPSG.
Sir Julian King, Commissioner for Security Union, addressed JPSG members at a reception in the House of European History, outlining the security challenges the Union is currently facing and urging parliamentarians to continue their valuable work in this field.
The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Mari-Leena Talvitie, Head of delegation of the Finnish Parliament to the JPSG and Mr Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Head of the delegation of the European Parliament to the JPSG.
The next meeting will be held in Zagreb on 22-23 March 2020. It will be co-organised by the European Parliament and the Croatian Parliament.