A delegation of the Committee on Civil liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament visits the Europol headquarter in The Hague. Statements by Augustin DIAZ de MERA (EPP, ES) and Jan Philipp ALBRECHT (Greenss/EFA, DE).

statement

visit

DÍAZ DE MERA GARCÍA CONSUEGRA, Agustín (EPP, ES)

ALBRECHT, Jan Philipp (Greens/EFA, DE)

Netherlands

The Hague

Europol (T)

Visit of a LIBE delegation at the Europol headquarter in The Hague: atmosphere shots and statements

Arrival of the EP LIBE delegation at the Europol headquarter in Den Hague, Holland (4 shots)

Welcome speech by Rob WAINWRIGHT, the Director of Europol and Presentation by the Head of the Data Protection Office of Europol's data protection regime.

Presentation of the money falsification and explanation of the forgery mechanism in the EU (8 shots)

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Agust&#237;n D&#205;AZ DE MERA GARC&#205;A CONSUEGRA (EPP, ES), There had been established a lot of trust between the security police units of the Member States and Europol and this is still in a process of getting better and better. But what is the problem, the problem is to get the information and to distribute this information to allow a better level of security by sharing information. This intelligence level by Europol seems to me very useful and necessary.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Agust&#237;n D&#205;AZ DE MERA GARC&#205;A CONSUEGRA (EPP, ES), (related to the data protection) I think that Europol has established a standard of quality and protection when it comes to personal data, in any case the EP will defend in a strong way the protection of personal data, as those data will play a key role in having a better democratic quality.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jan Philipp ALBRECHT (Greens/EFA, DE), With the Lisbon Treaty and also now the 'Lisbonisation' of the Europol as an EU agencies, there will be more competences and there will also more task for Europol to act on their own and also to assist the MS authorities with acting a little bit more and to bring them into EU investigation and when it comes to such situation it should be a debate, where are the checks and balances at the end and where are the controls through out the Parliament or through juridical authorities.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jan Philipp ALBRECHT (Greens/EFA, DE), We have to be aware that there has to be also a debate how far is the EP involved in the actions of Europol, and there are some fears when it comes to agreements between Europol and 3rd states to exchange information, the EP should be inside and should be the one who decides the legislative questions and this should not be up to the police.