EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europaudvalget 2024-25
EUU Alm.del Bilag 636
Offentligt

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The Hague,

EDOC#

29 January 2025

1446216v1A

Draft

Europol Programming Document

2026

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2028

Multi-annual programming 2026

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2028

Endorsed by the Management Board of Europol on 27 January 2025

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents ................................................................................................. 2

List of Acronyms ................................................................................................... 3

SECTION I

–

General Context ............................................................................... 4

SECTION II - Multi-annual programming 2026

–

2028 ....................................... 20

1. Multi-annual programme .................................................................. 20

2. Human and financial resource outlook for the years 2026-2028 .............. 25

ANNEXES ............................................................................................................ 36

Annex II: Resources allocation per activity 2026

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2028........................... 37

Annex III: Financial Resources 2026

–

2028 ........................................... 38

Annex IV: Human resources quantitative ............................................... 44

Annex XI: Grants ............................................................................... 49

Annex XII: Strategy for cooperation with third countries and/or international

organisations .................................................................................... 66

Annex XIII: Research and innovation activities 2026................................ 79

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List of Acronyms

ADEP

AML

ARO

BPL

CBRN

CEPOL

COSI

CSDP

CSE

DAP

DPF

EC3

ECA

ECTC

EDPS

EEAS

EES

EFECC

EIS

EMAS

EMCDDA

EMPACT

EMSA

EMSC

EPE

EPPO

ESOCC

ETIAS

EUCP

EUIPO

Eurojust

eu-LISA

Automation of Data Exchange Processes

Anti-Money Laundering

Analysis Project

Asset Recovery Office

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Contract Agent

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and

Nuclear

European Union Agency for Law

Enforcement Training

Standing Committee on Operational

Cooperation on Internal Security

Common Security and Defence Policy

child sexual exploitation

Counter-Terrorism

Data Analysis Portal

Data Protection Function

Europol Cybercrime Centre

European Court of Auditors

European Counter Terrorism Centre

European Data Protection Supervisor

European External Action Service

Entry-Exit System

European Financial and Economic Crime

Centre

Europol Information System

Europol Malware Analysis Solution

EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs

and Drug Addiction

European Multidisciplinary Platform

against Criminal Threats

European Maritime Safety Agency

European Migrant Smuggling Centre

Europol Platform for Experts

European Public Prosecutor’s Office

European Serious and Organised Crime

Centre

EU Travel Information and Authorisation

System

EU Crisis Protocol

European Union Intellectual Property

Office

European Union Agency for Criminal

Justice Cooperation

European Union Agency for the

Operational Management of Large-Scale

IT Systems in the Area of Freedom,

Security and Justice.

Financial Intelligence Unit

Frontex

HRCN

HVT

IAC

IAM

ICT

IRU

ISF

J-CAT

JHA

JRC

LEA

MENA

MTIC

OAC

OAP

OCG

ODIN

OLAF

OSINT

OSP

OTF

PERCI

PNR

QUEST

R&D

SIENA

SIS

SNE

SOC

SOCTA

TFTP

THB

UMF

VIS

European Border and Coast Guard Agency

Guest Officer

Human Resource

High Risk Criminal Networks

High Value Targets

Internal Audit Capability

Identity and Access Management

Information and Communications

Technology

Information Management

Internet Referral Unit

Internal Security Fund

Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce

Justice and Home Affairs

Joint Research Centre

Law Enforcement Authorities

Management Board

Middle East and North Africa region

Member State

Excise and Missing Trader Intra

Community

Operational and Analysis Centre

Operational Action Plan (under EMPACT)

Organised Crime Group

Operational Data for Innovation

European Anti-Fraud Office

Open Source Intelligence

Online Service Providers

Operational Task Force

European platform for takedown of

illegal content online

Passenger Name Record

Querying Europol’s systems

Research and Development

Secure Information Exchange Network

Application

Schengen Information System

Seconded National Expert

Serious and Organised Crime

Serious and Organised Crime Threat

Assessment

Temporary Agent

Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme

Trafficking in human beings

Third Part(y)/ies: Third countr(y)/ies

and/or international organisation(s)

Universal Message Format

Visa Information System

FIU

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SECTION I

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General Context

This section presents the current and future policy context that is expected to influence

Europol’s work in the coming years.

Through the implementation of its Annual Work

Programme 2026, Europol will contribute to the implementation of several EU policies in the

JHA domain, as detailed below and under each specific Activity in Section III.

With the establishment of the new European Commission 2024-2029 and a number of EU

Strategies and action plans concluding in 2025, Europol will follow closely the elaboration of

new EU strategies and related action plans for

emerging tasks falling within Europol’s

mandate, such as the EU Internal Security Strategy, the next Strategy to tackle Organised

Crime, the next EU Cybersecurity Strategy, the next Counter-Terrorism Agenda for the EU,

the next EU Action Plan on Firearms Trafficking, the next EU Strategy on Combatting

Trafficking in Human Beings and the next EU Drug strategy. Once in place, the new strategies

and action plans will be duly reflected in this section.

Security Union

1.1. Mission Letters of the President of the European Commission, Dr Ursula von

der Leyen

The President of the European Commission, Dr von der Leyen, issued mission letters to the

then

Commissioners Designate in September 2024. Europol’s work

was most prominently

featured in the mission letter to then Commissioner Designate for Justice and Home Affairs,

Mr. Magnus Brunner, but relevant references can also be found in the mission letter to then

Executive VP-designate for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Ms. Henna Virkkunen.

Ms Virkkunen was asked to support the

strengthening of the EU's internal security,

foster

law enforcement cooperation

and support a tougher approach to crime with a particular

focus on

organised crime and high-risk criminal networks.

Among others, Ms Virkkunen

was also asked to coordinate efforts to ensure high standards of cybersecurity and look at

digital technologies and AI to enhance law enforcement capabilities.

The Executive

VP will also guide the work

on anti-corruption.

Mr. Brunner is asked to lead the efforts on the fight against

serious and organised crime

and is expected to present a

new European Action plan against drug trafficking.

Among

key priorities mentioned in the letter is

a new European Internal Security Strategy,

updating law enforcement tools for

digital data access,

strengthening

law enforcement

and judicial cooperation, child protection against sexual abuse, cybercrime,

counter-terrorism,

renewing the

EU firearms action plan

and fighting

against migrant

smugglers and people traffickers.

Finally, Mr. Brunner is asked to enhance coordination and complementarity between Europol

and other agencies and is expected to propose to “make

Europol a truly operational police

agency and more than double its staff over time”,

with a strengthened mandate and

oversight.

1.2.

European Commission’s

Communication: Enhancing the accession process

–

credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans

In February 2020,

the European Commission adopted a communication on “Enhancing

the

accession process

–

A credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans”

, which foresees

stronger commitments by the EU and the Western Balkans. Credibility should be reinforced

through an even stronger focus on fundamental reforms, starting with the rule of law, the

COM/2020/57 final

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functioning of democratic institutions and public administration as well as the economy of the

candidate countries.

Ahead of the EU-Western Balkans Summit of 6 December 2022 and the Justice and Home

Affairs (JHA) Council on 8 December 2022, the Commission presented also

an “EU Action Plan

on the Western Balkans” aimed at strengthening cooperation on migration and border

management with partners in Western Balkans. In December 2022, the European Council

decided to grant the EU candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1.3. Joint Communication: Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020: Reinforcing

Resilience

–

an Eastern Partnership that delivers for all

The European Commission-EEAS joint communication Eastern Partnership policy beyond

2020

was published on 18 March 2020 and comprises a new policy framework to strengthen

resilience in partner countries in light of today's challenges, foster sustainable development

and deliver tangible results for citizens. The EU, Member States and partner countries are

invited to work together for accountable institutions, the rule of law and security. In particular,

the EU shall work to enhance its support to fighting corruption and economic crime and

improve cross-border cooperation to better protect people against organised crime. On 23

June 2022, the European Council decided to grant the status of candidate country to Ukraine

and to the Republic of Moldova.

1.4. Strengthening cooperation with CSDP missions and operations

In June 2020, the Council adopted conclusions on security and defence

, which initiated the

work towards a Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, adopted in March 2022. In the

Strategic Compass, MS agreed to develop a new Civilian CSDP Compact by mid-2023.

On 22 May 2023 the Council adopted the new Civilian CSDP Compact

reaffirming its full

commitment to strengthening civilian CSDP and calling for the enhancement of the civilian

CSDP missions’ effectiveness, impact, flexibility and robustness, enabling

them to tackle more

effectively current, emerging and future security challenges across the internal

–

external

nexus. The implementation is taken forward by the EEAS and the Commission through a joint

action plan, as well as through

MS’

own implementation plans. Reinforced cooperation

between CSDP and JHA is an important element of the Strategic Compass.

Serious and Organised Crime

2.1. EU roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime

On 18 October 2023, the European Commission adopted the EU roadmap to fight drug

trafficking and organised crime

, which aims to reinforce the EU action against the most

serious security threats posed by the drugs trade and organised crime groups. It is composed

of seventeen Priority Actions organised around four thematic areas: 1) The European Ports

Alliance to strengthen the resilience of logistical hubs; 2) Action to dismantle high-risk criminal

networks; 3) Prevention; and 4) International cooperation. Europol is mentioned extensively

in the Roadmap and is actively involved in the implementation of most of its actions, in

cooperation with MS and other relevant EU Agencies and bodies.

2.2. Establishment of the European Union Drugs Agency

The regulation setting up the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and replacing the

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) entered into force on 1

July 2023 and became applicable on 1 July 2024. This new legal framework enhances the

JOIN/2020/7 final

Council 8792/20

Council 9588/23

COM/2023/641 final

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mandate of the agency, expanding its scope of actions to polysubstance use, strengthening

its monitoring and threat assessment capabilities and giving the agency a clear mandate to

analyse global and third countries developments with potential impact on the EU. Most

importantly for Europol, the EUDA is now competent to address drug supply and drug market

issues, which offers increased opportunities for collaboration. EUDA is exploring possibilities

to deploy a Liaison Officer to Europol.

2.3. Revision of the Regulation on the import, export and transit of firearms

On 28 October 2022, the European Commission presented a proposal to revise the Regulation

setting out rules on the import, export and transit of firearms to prevent the risk of diversion

by improving the traceability of firearms and facilitating information exchange between

national authorities. Key provisions for Europol include: the obligation for customs to share

information on seizures with competent authorities via SIENA; the alignment of the scope of

the regulation to the scope of the Firearms Directive; imposition of stricter rules and controls

for deactivated weapons and alarm and signal weapons; stricter rules for the import of semi-

finished firearms and essential components; creation of national firearms contact points;

enhanced cooperation between LE (including customs) and licensing authorities; development

of an EU electronic licensing system for manufacturers and dealers to apply for import and

export authorisation, as well as the need to check SIS, ECRIS and the central system

containing all refusals before granting import or export authorisations. On 14 March 2024,

the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement on the text. The

final adoption is pending.

2.4. New Pact on Migration and Asylum

On 23 September 2020, the European Commission presented the New Pact on Migration and

Asylum

. Of relevance for Europol are the proposals for a Regulation introducing a screening

of third country nationals at the external borders (Screening Regulation) and the Regulation

on the revision of Eurodac (see section 6). Europol already participates in the regular meetings

and reporting of the EU Migration Preparedness and Crisis Blueprint, as well as the Situational

Awareness and Forecasting project. The text was adopted on 14 May 2024.

2.5. EU Action Plans on the Central Mediterranean, Western Balkans, Western

Mediterranean routes and a Migration Management Toolbox

On 21 November 2022 the European Commission presented the

EU Action Plan on the

Central Mediterranean

in response to the large increase in migratory pressure. The Action

Plan proposes 20 measures to fight migrant smuggling and human trafficking in close

cooperation with EU Agencies (in the context of the Anti-Smuggling Operational Partnerships

as presented in the EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling).

On 6 December 2022, the Commission presented the

EU Action Plan on the Western

Balkans,

where the fight against migrant smuggling also features, including making full use

of Europol’s Operational Task Force(s) in the region and enhancing the participation of

Western Balkans partners in EMPACT, as well as ensuring implementation of the regional anti-

smuggling programme with cooperation of relevant EU Agencies.

On 6 June 2023, the Commission presented the

Action Plan on the Western

Mediterranean and Atlantic migration routes,

with 18 operational measures, of which

those in the domain of migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings are relevant for

Europol. In the context of anti-smuggling operational partnerships, the promotion of

structured cooperation between Europol and Morocco in the form of a Working Arrangement

is underlined, as well as the implementation of a regional programme (Morocco, Tunisia,

Egypt) to fight against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings in cooperation with

relevant EU Agencies. Further emphasis was placed on consolidating and ensuring synergies

COM(2020)609 final

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between existing Common Operational Partnerships and Joint Investigation Teams with West

and North African countries, as well as promoting their participation in EMPACT.

Also on 6 June 2023, the Commission put forward a new

toolbox of measures to address

the increasing misuse of commercial transport by criminal networks to facilitate

irregular migration to the EU,

with a focus on airways. In this context, Europol’s

contributions to an improved situational awareness of relevant transport operators and to flag

emerging trends is expected within the Migration and Crisis Preparedness Blueprint Network.

On 17 September 2023, in view of the recent increase in the migratory flows on the Central

Mediterranean route directed to Italy, the Commission presented the

10-Point Plan for

Lampedusa.

The Plan lays out a set of actions to be exercised, in full respect of fundamental

rights and international obligations, to, inter alia: reinforce the support to Italy by the EUAA

and Frontex; step up returns; take measures to limit the use of unseaworthy vessels and

against migrant smuggling; step up border surveillance; support the prevention of departures

by establishing operational partnerships on anti-smuggling with countries of origin and transit.

On 18 October 2023, in response to the call of the European Council, the Commission, in

consultation with the EEAS, presented the

Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean.

This Action Plan identifies twenty-nine operational measures with an emphasis on stepping

up prevention of irregular migration and enhancing management of flows. It foresees,

amongst others, enhancing the cooperation between Europol, Frontex and Eurojust, in

accordance with their respective mandates, notably by increasing active participation and

information sharing of all relevant partners in the EMPACT.

2.6.

Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling

On 28 November 2023, at the International Conference on a

Global Alliance to Counter

Migrant Smuggling,

the Commission opened a new era of cooperation between countries of

origin, transit, and destination. The Global Alliance aims to bring relevant actors together to

join forces in identifying, arresting, and convicting high-value targets, including those

residing/situated/operating outside of the Union. The Global Alliance will promote and ensure

enhanced practical cooperation at a global level of law enforcement and judicial authorities,

with the involvement of relevant EU Agencies, in line with EU foreign policy objectives. The

‘Call to Action’ was launched on all relevant

actors, governments, international organisations

and online service providers to work collectively in three main areas: (i) the prevention of

migrant smuggling; (ii) the response to migrant smuggling and the alternatives to irregular

migration, including addressing the root causes and, (iii) facilitating legal pathways.

2.7.

European Commission’s legislative initiative to prevent and fight migrant

smuggling

On 28 November 2023, the European Commission announced a new legislative package to

strengthen the EU legal framework to prevent and fight migrant smuggling, including a

Regulation and a Directive. The proposed

Regulation on enhancing police cooperation in

relation to the prevention, detection, and investigation of migrant smuggling

particularly relevant for Europol. It aims to prevent and combat migrant smuggling and

trafficking in human beings by reinforcing: 1) inter-agency cooperation; 2) the steering and

coordination of Member States, EU Agencies and other relevant stakeholders at EU level; 3)

information sharing amongst all stakeholders; 4)

Member States’ resources;

and 5)

Europol’s

support through the use of Operational Task Forces (OTF) and of Europol deployments for

operational support. Additional resources for Europol are included in the Legislative Financial

Statement of the proposed Regulation.

Commission proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on enhancing police cooperation

in relation to the prevention, detection and investigation of migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings,

and on

enhancing Europol’s support to preventing and combating such crimes and amending Regulation (EU)

2016/794, COM(2023) 754 final of 28.11.2023 (hereinafter the ‘Regulation on countering migrant smuggling’).

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2.8. Schengen Strategy and the Multiannual Strategic Policy for European

Integrated Border Management

The 2021 Schengen Strategy pointed to Europol’s renewed mandate as an element expected

to reinforce the Schengen area internally.

The agency also features in the Schengen

Evaluation and Monitoring Mechanism and is an important contributor to the Schengen Cycle,

especially to Schengen Barometer. Europol shall, according to its mandate, provide expertise,

analysis, reports, and other relevant information to support the implementation of the

Schengen Cycle and Schengen evaluation activities. Its experts regularly participate in all

relevant evaluation missions and contribute to Schengen evaluation training activities.

On 16 May 2023, the Commission presented the second State of Schengen report

with

enhanced internal security of the Schengen area to fight against organised crime and drug

trafficking featuring as one of the seven priority areas for the coming year. In this context,

SIENA as the default law enforcement information exchange

channel will reinforce Europol’s

position as the EU’s law enforcement information hub. Moreover, Europol also contributes to

the thematic evaluation on identifying best practices of MS in fighting drugs trafficking.

Following the Commission’s Policy document on developing a multiannual strategic policy for

European integrated border management (EIBM), the first such policy was put forward in

March 2023. Europol and law enforcement authorities feature as relevant partners in several

policy priorities and strategic guidelines for the next five years, including: border control;

analysis of risks for internal security; cooperation amongst relevant Union institutions, bodies,

offices and Agencies, including through regular exchange of information; cooperation with

third countries in the areas covered by the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation;

technical and operational measures within the Schengen area related to border control and

designed to address irregular migration and counter cross-border crime; and research and

innovation activities. Frontex adopted the technical and operational strategy for EIBM 2023-

2027, and Europol may be involved in implementing relevant actions.

2.9.

Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) collaboration platform

On 1 December 2021, the European Commission issued a legislative proposal for a regulation

to establish a dedicated JIT platform, to be used on a voluntary basis, to support the

functioning of Joint Investigation Teams. To improve and speed up collaboration, the new

proposal will set up a collaboration platform for easy and secure exchange of information and

files, including evidence, within the joint team and between it and other bodies (e.g. Eurojust,

Europol and the European Anti-Fraud Office). The final act was published in the EU Official

Journal on 17 May 2023.

2.10. Revised Environmental Crime Directive

The revised EU Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law, otherwise

known as Environmental Crime Directive, entered into force on 20 May 2024. It introduces

new criminal offences, a wider range of sanctions and obligations for MS to provide adequate

training and resources to law enforcement. The new Directive also calls on Member states to

cooperate through EU agencies, in particular Eurojust and Europol, as well as with EU bodies,

including the EPPO and OLAF, in their respective areas of competence.

2.11. EU Action plan on cultural goods trafficking

On 13 December 2022, the European Commission presented an EU Action plan against

trafficking in cultural goods, to deter criminals effectively, to address evolving security threats

and to protect cultural heritage within and beyond the EU. The action plan builds on existing

EU activity and addresses ongoing challenges through: improving prevention and detection

of crimes by market participants and cultural heritage institutions; strengthening law

COM(2021) 277 final of 2.6.2021, p. 13.

COM/2023/274 final

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enforcement and judicial capabilities; and boosting international cooperation, including with

source and transit countries of cultural goods in conflicts and crises. The document establishes

a list of key actions to strengthen the capabilities of law enforcement and the judiciary in that

field, including several references

to Europol’s role and supporting the reinforcement of

CULTNET by seconding appropriate staff to Europol.

In this context, on 8 June 2023, the Council adopted

Conclusions on the fight against

trafficking in cultural goods

, welcoming the Commission’s action

plan and encouraging

further actions, several of which including direct references to Europol or EMPACT, such as

the creation of an EU CULTNET contact point at Europol; the creation, in cooperation with the

Innovation Lab, of a specific search engine to detect trafficking in cultural goods; or the need

to take full advantage of Europol’s and Eurojust’s support for cross-border

law enforcement

and judicial cooperation.

2.12. 10-Point Plan - For stronger European coordination on welcoming people

fleeing the war from Ukraine

On 28 March 2022, the European Commission presented the 10-points action plan, which

among others, calls for closer cooperation in the area of preventing human trafficking and

helping victims. The plan addresses the specific challenges emerging from the Ukrainian war.

Furthermore, with a view to addressing the internal security implications of the war in Ukraine,

the EMPACT community and Europol should support MS cooperation and investigations, and

sustain the sharing of relevant security information. MS should ensure the enforcement of EU

sanctions against Russian and Belarussian individuals and entities and take immediate

appropriate action at national level concerning sanctioned persons. In this regard, Europol is

part of

the “Freeze and Seize” Task Force set up

by the Commission to ensure EU-level

coordination on the implementation and enforcement of sanctions.

2.13. Council Conclusions on Action Plan for the European Forensic Science Area

2.0

On 9 March 2023, the Council approved Conclusions on the Action Plan for the European

Forensic Science Area 2.0

. The Action Plan aims to shape the future of forensics by 2030,

and is organised in three pillars, each addressing specific areas and outlining appropriate

actions and responsible stakeholders.

Europol’s role in the implementation of the action plan

has been identified in several areas, e.g. biometrics, artificial intelligence, digitalisation, and

emerging technologies.

2.14. High-Level Expert Group on access to data for effective law enforcement

To contribute to the further consolidation of an effective Security Union, in June 2023 the

European Commission set up a High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on access to data for effective

law enforcement, guided by the input provided by the Standing Committee on Operational

Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI). The HLEG is tasked to explore the problems that

law enforcement practitioners face in their daily work, and to define potential solutions to

overcome them. Specific focus is on the need for law enforcement practitioners to have

adequate access to data. The Group will map, assess, and prioritise the relevant issues and

will identify, in a comprehensive manner, the legal, technical, and operational challenges,

both current and potential future ones, and assess the practical impact of the lack of access

to data on law enforcement’s ability to perform their function.

The Group is composed of high-

level representatives of the EU MS and the European Commission, relevant EU bodies and

agencies (including Europol, Eurojust, ENISA, FRA and CEPOL), the Joint Research Centre of

the Commission and the EU Counter Terrorism Coordinator.

Council 10249/23

Council 7152/23

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Cybercrime

3.1.

European Commission’s e-evidence

package

On 12 July 2023, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a legislative package

aiming at improving law enforcement and judicial cross-border access to electronic evidence.

The objective is to establish a consistent legal framework and avoid conflicting obligations

with the law of non-EU countries, as well as to protect the fundamental rights of individuals.

Conceived as a judicial cooperation tool, the e-evidence legislation could have implications for

Europol, since the SIRIUS capability is mentioned as a possible platform to transmit and

facilitate the authentication of orders and as a de-confliction tool. The EU Package entered

into force in August 2023 and will start applying as of 2026.

3.2. Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse

On 11 May 2022 the European Commission proposed a Regulation laying down rules to

prevent and combat child sexual abuse (CSA Regulation) in order to replace the interim

regulation which was set to expire in August 2024. The proposal introduces i.a., detection and

reporting obligations for online service providers, which will inevitably increase the number of

referrals to be handled by Europol. The regulation also aims to establish a European centre

to prevent and counter child sexual abuse, in the form of an EU decentralised agency, which

should cooperate closely with Europol; the new Centre would “rely on

the support services of

Europol (HR, IT including cybersecurity, communication)”.

In light of this ongoing legislative

process, the interim regulation was extended until 3 April 2026 to ensure the continuation of

the voluntary regime for the detection and reporting of CSA online to the competent

authorities.

3.3. Proposal Directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of

children and child sexual abuse material (recast)

On 6 February 2024, the European Commission published a proposal revising the 2011

European directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children

. The

aim is to adapt EU definitions and criminal offenses to constant digital change, including

technological developments. The proposal also introduces, inter-alia, details on investigative

tools available to law enforcement, Member States cooperation with Europol and Eurojust, as

well as cooperation with third countries to investigate and combat child sexual exploitation in

travel and tourism. It creates new structures and processes in Member States, sets-up multi-

stakeholder mechanism for the development and implementation of measures to prevent and

combat CSA, and promotes CSA training for law enforcement and the judicial.

3.4. Digital Services Act

On 15 December 2020 the European Commission adopted the Digital Services Act (DSA), a

legislative proposal to set harmonised new rules for all digital services that operate in the EU.

The proposal puts forward measures for countering illegal content online and introduces i.a.

obligations for hosting service providers (HSP) to report suspicions of criminal offences to law

enforcement or judicial authorities of the MS(s) concerned, once the HSP becomes aware of

a threat to the life or safety of person or persons; should the MS concerned be unclear, the

HSP must report it to the authorities of the MS in which the company is registered in the EU,

or to Europol, or both. Europol continues working on fine-tuning its work processes in order

to accommodate this new flow of information from HSPs. The DSA entered into force on 16

November 2022 and its rules became fully applicable from February 2024.

3.5.

EU’s Cybersecurity Strategy for the Digital Decade

The EU’s Cybersecurity Strategy for the Digital Decade

adopted on 16 December 2020 seeks

to enhance the EU’s resilience to cyber threats. Initiatives include enhancing cooperation and

COM(2024) 60 final

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information-sharing amongst the various cyber communities and the establishment of the

Joint Cyber Unit. Furthermore, special attention should be given to preventing and countering

cyberattacks with systemic effects that might affect EU supply chains, critical infrastructure

and essential services, democratic institutions and processes and undermine economic

security. The European Commission will, together with the EU Intellectual Property Office,

Europol, ENISA, MS and the private sector, develop awareness tools to increase the resilience

of EU businesses against cyber-enabled intellectual property theft.

3.6. Regulation laying down measures for a high common level of cybersecurity at

the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union

In March 2022, the European Commission adopted the proposal for a regulation that

introduces common binding rules on cybersecurity for all EU Institutions, Bodies and Agencies

(EUIBAs). The new mandatory measures include i.a., baseline budget allocation towards

cybersecurity and standards, procedures for incident response and maturity assessment. It

also proposes the reallocation of resources and staff from relevant EUIBAs to CERT-EU, the

EU Computer Security Incident Response Team. Classified environments are broadly excluded

from the regulation, but the regulation implies adjustments to Europol’s internal cybersecurity

procedures, create new reporting channels and have some impact on resources. The

regulation also opens the possibility for cooperation and information exchange between CERT-

EU and the European Cybercrime Centre. The regulation entered into force on 7 January 2024.

3.7. Proposal for a Regulation on information security in the institutions, bodies,

offices and agencies of the Union

Together with the Cybersecurity draft Regulation, the Commission proposed common

information security rules for all EUIBAs that will be mandatory across all EU administration.

These aim to create a baseline of security standards applicable to all information handled

within the EU entities, both non-classified and classified, as well as to relevant communication

and information systems. This Regulation will likely require some adjustments in the current

procedures related to information security at Europol. Negotiations are ongoing.

3.8. Cyber Crisis Task Force

In March 2022, the European Commission established the Cyber Crisis Task Force to ensure

coordination at operational and executive levels regarding cybersecurity crisis management.

The Task Force is comprised of relevant Commission Services and EU bodies and agencies,

including Europol and is mandated to support operational coordination and informed political

decision-making, improve crisis management communication flows between civilian, law

enforcement, diplomatic and defence cybersecurity communities, and coordinate the

implementation of the Joint Cyber Unit.

3.9. Cyber Resilience Act

The European Commission adopted the Cyber Resilience Act

on 15 September 2022, which

introduces mandatory cybersecurity requirements for hardware and software products. The

proposed regulation will apply to all devices and software that are connected either directly

or indirectly to another device or network, and aims to address the impact of cybercrime, in

particular ransomware. Once it enters into force, it will likely have an impact on the ability of

law enforcement to counter cybercrime,

Europol’s procurement of technology and potentially

on Europol’s role as technology provider for law enforcement. The European Parliament

endorsed the compromise text on 12 March 2024. Final adoption is pending.

COM(2022) 454 final

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3.10. European Commission Cyber Package

On 18 April 2023 the European Commission adopted a Cyber package, which seeks to

strengthen cybersecurity capacities in the EU and contains two main initiatives of relevance

for Europol and/or EU MS law enforcement agencies.

- The

creation of a Cybersecurity Skills Academy,

which seeks to help increase the number of

skilled cybersecurity professionals in the EU and to increase synergies across cyber

communities to fight cybercrime. The academy puts forward new ways for cooperation

between Europol, CEPOL, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and the European

Cybersecurity Competences Centre, to establish an operational trainings’ need analysis to

address cyberattacks. Moreover, cooperation between Europol, CEPOL, the Commission and

the EEAS is foreseen for defining specific profiles and respective skills for law enforcement.

- The EU Cyber Solidarity Act,

which is a regulation proposal to strengthen solidarity at Union

level to better detect, prepare for and respond to significant or large-scale cybersecurity

incidents. The proposal includes i.a. the creation of a Cybersecurity Emergency Mechanism.

The regulation proposal also establishes an EU Cybersecurity Reserve, comprised of a pool of

cybersecurity services from trusted providers to support response to and immediate recovery

from significant or large-scale cybersecurity incidents. As an EU agency, Europol would qualify

as recipient of such support, should it suffer a significant cyber incident that goes beyond the

agency’s cybersecurity capabilities.

The European Parliament and Council reached a

provisional agreement on 6 March 2024. Final adoption is pending.

3.11. AI package

On 21 April 2021, the European Commission presented the so-called

“Artificial

Intelligence

(AI) Package”. The main component of the AI Package is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act

adopted on the 21 May 2024, that constitutes the first step in regulating Artificial Intelligence

in the Union and has a significant impact on how law enforcement agencies and Europol will

be able to harness the potential of AI. The AI Act takes a four-tiered risk-based approach

(from low risk to unacceptable risk) and sets different levels of safeguards to mitigate the

risks posed by specific uses of AI for safety and fundamental rights. Certain uses related to

law enforcement are labelled as “high-risk” and therefore additional obligations are imposed

on the developers and deployers of the respective Artificial Intelligence systems. Significant

work remains for the smooth implementation of the AI Act so to prevent that any additional

burden is placed on law enforcement authorities and on Europol.

3.12.

Commission Recommendation on a Coordinated Implementation Roadmap

for the transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography

The European Commission adopted on 11 April 2024 a recommendation to foster the

transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography for the protection of digital infrastructures and

services for public administrations and other critical infrastructures in the Union

. In this

regard, Member States are encouraged to coordinate their actions through a dedicated forum,

to define and develop the Post-Quantum Cryptography Coordinated Implementation

Roadmap. The recommendation encourages Member States to engage in discussions with

other relevant bodies, such as Europol and NATO in order to avoid duplication of efforts and

ensure a cohesive approach to addressing emerging challenges. The outcome of this policy

process will likely have an impact on cybercrime in general, as well as on Europol’s information

systems and digital support services.

C(2024) 2393 final

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Terrorism and radicalisation

4.1. A Counter-Terrorism Agenda for the EU: Anticipate, Prevent, Protect, Respond

On 9 December 2020, the Commission presented a new Counter-Terrorism Agenda

for the

EU to step up the fight against terrorism and violent extremism and boost the EU's resilience

to terrorist threats. In the framework of its implementation, the Commission, in cooperation

with Europol, developed further guidance for the implementation of the revised EU Crisis

Response Protocol.

4.2. Council Conclusions on EU External Action on Preventing and Countering

Terrorism and Violent Extremism

On 15 June 2020, the Council adopted Conclusions on EU External Action on Preventing and

Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism

. Key areas include the Western Balkans, North

Africa and the Middle East, Sahel and the Horn of Africa. The misuse of the internet and new

technologies for terrorist purposes are specifically addressed, as well as the need to cut off

sources of terrorism financing. Furthermore, the Council recognises that Foreign Terrorist

Fighters (FTFs) will remain a major common security challenge which should be better tackled

through enhanced and timely cooperation and information sharing among MS, INTCEN,

Europol, Eurojust and Interpol.

4.3. Council Conclusions on protecting Europeans from terrorism

On 10 June 2022, the Council adopted Conclusions on protecting Europeans from terrorism

The conclusions focus on: the persistent high level of terrorist threat;

he need to strengthen

the use of SIS to monitor, detect individuals posing a terrorist threat, and better coordinate

national entry bans and expulsion measures; the need to combat the threat stemming from

actors contributing to radicalisation leading to terrorism; and access to essential data to fight

terrorism.

4.4. Council Conclusions on released prisoners and terrorism threats

On 4-5 December 2023, the Council adopted Conclusions on released prisoners and terrorism

threats

. The Council invites Member States to share, in accordance with national law, and

in a timely manner before their possible release, information within the EU on prison inmates

who are assessed as posing a terrorist threat, by entering their data into SIS, and if such

inmates are monitored in a law enforcement framework, using the Europol Information

System (EIS) and the Europol Analysis Projects. Europol is also foreseen to support the

exchange of good practices between MS.

4.5. Policy recommendations in counter-terrorism

Every semester, the Terrorism Working Party (TWP) is tasked, if required by changes to the

terrorist threat picture, to prepare conclusions and policy recommendations or to adjust the

existing ones, based on INTCEN's assessments and Europol's biannual reports on the

terrorism threat to the EU. The latest report

was presented to the TWP on 4 March 2024

and the exercise for the update of the CT policy recommendations is currently ongoing. The

latest update was endorsed by COSI on 22 November 2023

, including, i.a.:

•

Continuous monitoring by EU MS, with the support of INTCEN and Europol, of the impact

of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine on terrorist activities and narratives;

COM(2020)795 final

Council 8868/20

Council 9997/22

Council 15404/23

Council 7177/24

Council 15044/23

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•

Continuous development and use of EU IRU capabilities to support MS’

actions to prevent

the dissemination of all types of terrorist content; the EU IRU should continue its efforts

to flag violent extremist and terrorist content online;

Further development of the cooperation with key third countries and international partners

on access to battlefield information;

Call for the use of innovative tools and new technologies to counter terrorist threats and

funding of research, innovation and development activities at EU level.

Moreover, in February 2023, COSI endorsed a

Revised coordinated approach

- Defining

a process for Evaluating information on third - country nationals suspected to be jihadist

terrorists received from third parties or a Member State for possible processing in the

Schengen Information System, replacing the Protocol endorsed in 2020. This new approach

reinforces the role of Europol in supporting MS with processing data it has received from third

countries or international organisations on persons involved in terrorism.

4.6. EU Crisis Protocol (EUCP)

On 7 October 2019, the EU Internet Forum committed to a common approach in addressing

the online dimension of terrorist and violent extremist attacks as set out in the EU Crisis

Protocol (EUCP). The EUCP requires the EU IRU to assume a central role in the coordination

of the emergency responses in the event of a terrorist attack with a significant online

component. Furthermore, the EUCP points out that a designated platform is needed that would

enable two-way communication among Europol, MS authorities and hosting service providers

(HSP). The EUCP was updated in May 2023, including improved interoperability, a stronger

protection of fundamental freedoms, and a clarification between legislative and voluntary

obligations for Online Service Providers.

4.7. Regulation on preventing the dissemination of Terrorist Content Online (TCO)

The TCO Regulation entered into application on 7 June 2022. It provides a legal framework

to ensure that hosting service providers will take down terrorist content online within one

hour and requires MS to inform and cooperate with each other and make use of structures

set up by Europol, including the PERCI platform. The aim is to ensure coordination and de-

confliction with regards to removal orders and referrals. The evaluation of the TCO regulation,

initially foreseen by 7 June 2024, is still ongoing.

4.8. Violent right-wing extremism and terrorism

On 8 October 2019, the Council endorsed four work strands to combat the threat stemming

from violent right-wing extremism: 1) Creating a better situational overview of violent right-

wing extremism and terrorism; 2) Developing and sharing good practices on how to

strengthen the prevention, detection and addressing all forms of violent extremism and

terrorism; 3) Addressing the spread of unlawful right-wing extremist content online and

offline; and 4) Cooperating with key third countries, including by addressing the topic in

counterterrorism dialogues. COSI endorsed an update of the four work strands to provide a

common ground for continued work to handle the constantly evolving threat of violent right-

wing extremism and terrorism on 16 May 2023.

4.9. Digital information exchange in terrorism cases

On 1 December 2021, the European Commission adopted a new initiative on the digital

information exchange in terrorism cases. In December 2022, co-legislators reached an

agreement on a proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1727 of the

European Parliament and the Council and Council Decision 2005/671/JHA, as regards the

digital information

exchange in terrorism cases (‘CTR’).

According to the compromise text,

each MS shall take the necessary measures to ensure that at least the information concerning

Council 5606/23

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criminal investigations for terrorist offences which affect or may affect two or more MS,

gathered by the relevant authority, is transmitted to Europol, in accordance with national law

and with the Europol Regulation. The final Act was published in the Official Journal on 11

October 2023.

4.10. Directive on the exchange of information and cooperation concerning

terrorist offences

On 1 December 2021, the European Commission published a Proposal for a Directive

amending Council Decision 2005/671/JHA on the exchange of information and cooperation

concerning terrorist offences, as regards its alignment with Union rules on the protection of

personal data. The Council Decision covers information exchange between Europol and MS,

as well as between MS related to terrorist offences. Transmission of personal data to Europol

is foreseen for the purpose of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of

terrorist offences and other criminal offences in respect of which Europol is competent, as

listed in Annex I of the Europol Regulation. The final Act was published in the Official Journal

on 11 October 2023.

Financial crime

5.1. Revision of the Directive on freezing and confiscation of the proceeds of crime.

On 12 April 2024, the European Council adopted the Directive on Asset Recovery and

Confiscation. The Directive will better equip MS in their fight against organised crime and the

associated illegal profits. It will also oblige MS to ensure that authorities have the resources

they need for their activities. The rules will also apply to violation of sanctions.

Key provisions for Europol:

•

SIENA:

MS shall ensure that asset recovery offices have direct access to SIENA.

Cooperation between asset recovery offices (AROs)/asset management offices

(AMOs) and Europol:

AROs and AMOs shall cooperate with Europol and Eurojust, for

the purposes of facilitating the identification of instrumentalities and proceeds, or

property that may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order made by a

competent authority in the course of proceedings in criminal matters, to facilitate the

management of frozen and confiscated assets.

Cooperation network on asset recovery and confiscation:

The Commission will

establish a cooperation network on asset recovery and confiscation to facilitate

cooperation among AROs and AMOs and with Europol, and to advise the Commission

and enable the exchange of best practices. Representatives of Eurojust, EPPO and AMLA

may also be invited.

•

5.2. Revision of Directive 2019/1153 laying down rules facilitating the use of

financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or

prosecution of certain criminal offences

On 30 May 2024, the Council adopted the amended Directive 2019/1153, to allow designated

competent authorities responsible for the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution

of criminal offences to access and search MS’

centralised bank account registers through a

single access point. This would enable them to establish almost immediately whether an

individual holds bank accounts in other MS and identify to which MS they should make a

formal request for additional information. The new Directive will also enable FIUs to invite

Europol to support them in the joint analysis, within the context of the AMLA, with the

agreement of all FIUs and within Europol’s mandate.

5.3.

EU’s anti-money

laundering and countering the financing of terrorism

legislative package

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On 30 May 2024, the Council adopted the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism

Financing Package (AML package). The AML package consists of: a regulation establishing a

new EU Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of

Terrorism

(AMLA); a regulation recasting the regulation on transfers of funds which aims to

make transfers of crypto-assets more transparent and fully traceable (which was adopted in

May 2023); a regulation on anti-money-laundering requirements for the private sector; a

directive on anti-money-laundering mechanisms at national level. The new AMLA is expected

to start operations in mid-2025.

Key provisions for Europol:

•

AMLA Joint Analysis:

Europol will be able to

support FIUs

when carrying out joint

analysis, subject to the agreement of all participating FIUs and will also

receive the

results of the joint analysis,

upon explicit consent of all FIUs participating, and where

the results indicate that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a criminal offence

has been committed.

•

Hit/no-hit system:

upon consent of all FIUs participating in the joint analysis, the AMLA

staff shall be authorised to cross-match, on the basis on a hit/no-hit system, the data of

those FIUs with data made available by other Union Agencies (including Europol).

•

Europol can be invited, as an observer, to attend the

AMLA General Board

meetings, in

its FIU composition.

•

Working arrangement:

The AMLA and Europol shall conclude a working arrangement,

setting out the details of their cooperation, including the

possibility of posting liaison

officers

at each other’s premises.

5.4. Tax Package

The European Commission adopted on 15 July 2020 a new Tax Package to ensure that EU tax

policy will boost the fight against tax abuse, curb unfair tax competition and increase tax

transparency. The most relevant initiative for Europol would be a mutual communication

channel with Eurofisc, the network of MS liaison officers facilitating multilateral efforts against

cross-border VAT fraud.

5.5. New customs reform

On 17 May 2023, the European Commission adopted the Customs reform

, which seeks to

establish a more cost-efficient and effective cooperation framework governing the Customs

Union. The Commission proposes to set up two key enablers:

- The EU Customs Authority, to pool expertise and competences that are currently scattered

across the EU, to steer, coordinate, and support national customs authorities in the EU. EU

Customs Authority is expected to assume its tasks on 1 January 2028.

- The EU Customs Data Hub to gradually integrate and replace the existing Customs IT

infrastructure and enhance interoperability with related policy fields. It will collect, process,

connect and store all relevant data, and also run EU-level risk analysis, to better protect the

EU’s external border

for goods.

The European Parliament’s first reading position was adopted on 13 March 2024. The file will

be followed up by the new Parliament.

Furthermore, the Council resolution on customs cooperation in the area of law enforcement

adopted on 8 June 2023 highlights the vital contribution of customs and other competent

authorities of MS to the internal security of the EU through the prevention, detection and

investigation of activities involving irregular or illegal cross-border movements of goods and

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and

Social Committee: Customs reform: taking the Customs Union to the next level.

Council 10247/23

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money laundering. Active cooperation between customs authorities and Europol, as well as

other relevant EU agencies, was noted with satisfaction.

5.6. Update of the anti-corruption legislative framework

The European Commission adopted a new anti-corruption legislative proposal on 3 May 2023.

The package consists of 1) A Communication on the fight against corruption in the EU, which

provides an overview of existing EU anti-corruption legislation and policies, takes stock of

challenges and reflects on how to step-up EU action; and 2) A Directive on fighting corruption.

The proposal establishes rules which update and harmonise definitions and penalties for

corruption offences to ensure that high standard criminal law tools are in place to better fight

and prevent corruption and to improve enforcement. Specific focus is given to cooperation

between MS authorities, the Commission, Europol, Eurojust, OLAF and EPPO. The European

Parliament and the Council adopted their negotiation positions in February and June 2024,

respectively. Trilogues are expected to start soon.

5.7. Commission Recommendation on measures to combat and enhance the

enforcement of intellectual property rights

On 19 March 2024, the European Commission adopted a Recommendation to combat

counterfeiting, both offline and online, and enhance the enforcement of intellectual property

rights. The Recommendation, also known as the EU toolbox against counterfeiting, aims to

foster collaboration between rights holders, service providers, and law enforcement, while

encouraging best practices and the use of modern tools and technologies. It consists of

strategic initiatives to combat counterfeiting and strengthen the enforcement of intellectual

property rights, setting out dedicated tools to increase companies' resilience and ability to

better protect their intangible assets, including against cyber-theft.

The recommendations encourage MS to "share intelligence and data on new counterfeiting

and piracy trends, seizures, risk assessments, lists of websites that have been held by

competent authorities to have carried out IP-infringing activities (infringing websites), and

good practices to tackle IP-infringing activities, as foreseen by Union law. They should share

these with EU bodies working in the area such as OLAF, Europol, the EUIPO, and the

Commission, making the best use of the available legal and technical tools." It also suggests

continued cooperation between EUIPO and Europol, Eurojust, Frontex and CEPOL to support

and streamline the fight against IP-infringing activities.

6. Information exchange and interoperability

6.1. Regulations establishing a framework for interoperability

On 20 May 2019, two Interoperability Regulations were adopted to set up a framework for

interoperability between EU information systems in the field of borders and visas, police and

judicial cooperation, asylum and migration. The regulations established:

•

A common identity repository (CIR) that would create an individual file for each person

recorded in the EES, the VIS, the ETIAS, Eurodac or the ECRIS-TCN;

•

The European search portal (ESP) to enable the simultaneous querying of EES, VIS, ETIAS,

Eurodac, SIS, the ECRIS-TCN as well as of Europol’s

and Interpol’s

databases;

•

A shared biometric matching service (shared BMS);

•

A multiple-identity detector (MID);

•

A central repository for reporting and statistics;

•

A new framework for MS law enforcement authorities’ and for Europol’s access to the EES,

VIS, ETIAS provided by the CIR and ESP.

6.2. Entry-Exit System (EES)

The Regulation establishing the EES was adopted on 30 November 2017. The EES will replace

the stamping of passports and will apply to third-country nationals admitted for a short stay

in the Schengen area. The

system’s objective is to improve the management of external

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borders; prevent irregular immigration and facilitate management of migration flows; detect

over-stayers and support the identification of undocumented persons. Europol will be able to

request access to the EES under specific conditions and process. Despite some delays in MS

implementation, the Commission is planning to start using the system in November 2024.

6.3. European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS)

On 12 September 2018, the Regulation establishing ETIAS was adopted, which will allow visa-

exempt third country nationals to obtain a travel authorisation prior to their travel to the

Schengen Area. The data provided by applicants will be automatically cross-checked, amongst

others, against Europol data. The agency is expected to provide a reasoned opinion to the

ETIAS National Units on hits against Europol data and its entries in ETIAS Watchlist.

Additionally, Europol will be able to request access to data stored in the ETIAS Central System.

ETIAS is expected to be fully operational in Q2 2025, and its functioning will start with a

transitional period during which the travel authorisation will not be mandatory yet.

6.4. ECRIS-Third Country National (TCN) system

Established in 2012, the European Criminal Records Information system (ECRIS) enables

national judicial authorities to receive information on previous criminal convictions in other

MS. On 17 April 2019, the Regulation establishing a centralised system for the identification

of MS holding conviction information on third-country nationals (TCN) was adopted to

supplement ECRIS. Europol is granted direct access to ECRIS-TCN data in order to identify

the MS holding information on previous convictions of third-country nationals. ECRIS-TCN is

expected to enter into operation in 2025.

6.5. Recast of the Visa Information System

The VIS Regulation Recast was adopted on 7 July 2021 and foresees the extension of the

scope of the VIS to include data on long-stay visas and residence permits. The data provided

by visa applicants will be automatically cross-checked against Europol data and Europol will

provide a reasoned opinion on the hits that occur against its data and against its entries in

ETIAS Watchlist. The system is planned to enter into operation in 2026.

6.6. Recast of Eurodac Regulation

The revision of the Eurodac Regulation was adopted on 14 May 2024, with the aim to improve

the control of irregular migration and the detection of unauthorised movements. The scope

of the Regulation is broadened to provide law enforcement authorities with access to the

Eurodac database. Europol will have an access point and will be able to access Eurodac for

consultation when, after consultation of the Central Identity Repository (of biometric or

alphanumeric data), this indicates that data is stored in Eurodac. The updated system is

expected to become operational from 2026.

6.7. Screening regulation

The Screening Regulation introduces searches against the European databases for the

purpose of security checks; this includes searches against Europol data, for all persons who

do not fulfil the entry conditions to the EU. When a query provides a match against Europol

data, an automatic notification is sent to Europol, in order for the agency to inform, where

needed, whether the person could pose a security risk. In the LFS of the proposed Regulation,

there are no additional resources foreseen for Europol for this purpose, even if this promises

to be a resource intensive task. The Regulation was adopted on 14 May 2024 and will be fully

applicable two years after its entry into force (i.e. mid-2026).

6.8. Revision of the Advance Passenger Information Directive

On 13 December 2022, Commission published the Advance Passenger Information (API)

proposals that provide for the mandatory collection of API data for the purposes of border

management and for countering serious crime and terrorism. On the latter, the mandatory

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collection of API data on intra-EU flights will strengthen the reliability and effectiveness of

PNR data as a law enforcement tool. A provisional political agreement on the two proposals

was reached on 1 March 2024. The agreed wording further clarifies amongst others the

methods for selecting intra-EU flights and extending the collection and transfer of data from

carrier to Passenger Name Record (PNR) data. The progressive entry into application is

expected to begin in 2028.

6.9. Prüm II Regulation

The Prüm II Regulation was adopted on 13 March 2024 and intends to reinforce and modernise

the existing Prüm framework by improving the technical architecture, introducing new

categories of data, enhancing the follow-up communication process, and involving Europol.

The involvement of Europol aims to enable (1) MS to search and cross-check the third country

biometric data held by Europol in an automated manner and (2) Europol to cross-check data

received from third countries with the

MS’

databases. Europol is also tasked to develop and

maintain EPRIS (European Police Record Index System) by 2027, which forms the technical

basis for the exchange of police records.

6.10. Directive on information exchange

The Directive on information exchange entered into force on 12 June 2023. The Directive is

highly relevant for Europol

and will have a significant impact on Europol’s resources

since it

intends to establish SIENA as the mandatory channel for the exchange of criminal information

by default and by introducing a provision to put Europol in copy for every information

exchange concerning crimes falling under its mandate. MS have 18 months from the entry

into force to transpose it into national law (with the exception of the provision on secure

communication channel, which has to be transposed four years after entry into force).

6.11. Council Recommendation on operational police cooperation

The Council Recommendation on law enforcement cooperation

was adopted on 10 June

2022 and aims at creating shared standards for operational cross border cooperation between

MS. This includes a common list of crimes for which hot pursuits across borders are possible

and secure messenger tools for police officers to communicate with their counterparts when

conducting operations in other EU countries. The proposal emphasises use of the different

possibilities Europol offers to support operational cooperation between MS, especially with

regard to secure communication tools, such as SIENA or the Virtual Command Post (VCP).

EMPACT 2026-2029

Council 8720/22

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SECTION II - Multi-annual programming 2026

–

2028

1. Multi-annual programme

This section references the

Europol

Strategy “Delivering security in partnership”,

endorsed by the Management Board in June 2023, following several consultations with

Member States, Europol’s Management Board and its Working Groups, the HENUs and

Europol’s management.

The renewed Strategy

paves the way to further improve Europol’s

performance, while benefitting from new opportunities introduced by the amended Europol

Regulation, in order to better address the operational needs of the Member States and the

security threats they are facing. To do so, it builds further on the five strategic priorities of

the previous Europol Strategy 2020+, which remain relevant, and adds an additional priority

aimed at addressing the increased complexity of law enforcement cooperation, and

strengthening the role of Europol in bringing relevant partners together for international

cooperation.

As a result, the following strategic objectives will continue guiding the work of the agency in

the years 2026-2028 to:

Be the EU criminal information

hub, including for data

acquisition

Deliver agile, real-time

operational support

Be a platform for European

policing solutions

Bring the relevant partners

together for cross-border

cooperation and joint action

Be at the forefront of law

enforcement innovation and

research

Be the model EU organisation

for law enforcement

cooperation

The areas of specific focus for the years 2026-2028 are presented below:

Strategic Objective 1: Be the EU criminal information hub, including for data

acquisition

Europol’s function as the EU criminal information hub will be further

expanded to enable

compliant access to data stored outside Europol’s

own data repositories, within legal and

practical possibilities. This includes operational use of EU databases (such as SIS, VIS, EES,

ETIAS, and Eurodac) and the provision of support for the exchange of information involving

national repositories (e.g. Prüm, ADEP-EPRIS).

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Data gathering at Europol should be aimed at minimising criminal intelligence gaps and focus

on data from live, complex investigations. The latter goes hand-in-hand with the prioritisation

of Europol’s support to coordinated action

against High-Value Targets (HVTs) and Operational

Task Forces (OTFs), including those with a regional focus.

Europol will prioritise the acquisition of data that fulfils this purpose, such as real-time data

from large and complex investigations, lawfully-intercepted and decrypted communications

of criminal networks, and seized darknet servers used for criminal purposes. The agency will

also focus on data concerning crime hubs, hotspots and key crime enablers, as well as priority

areas, such as financial crime, migrant smuggling, drug trafficking, cybercrime, the illicit

weapons trade and large-scale fraud schemes.

Member States will have access to more self-service tools, including for data and operational

contributions.

Highlights:

•

Conducting targeted data collection with specific interest for

Europol’s focus areas;

Facilitating instant communication, swift transfers from national data repositories, and

integration with (joint) case management capabilities;

Enhancing the intake of information through short-term on-the-spot deployments of

frontline support officers;

Enabling smooth data intake from private parties in relevant sectors (e.g. online

service providers, the banking sector, crypto-currency exchangers), in consultation

with Member States;

Furthering Europol’s role in EU information exchange

by implementing related policies

and enabling new initiatives, including the creation of a dedicated unit to coordinate

Europol’s work

concerning interoperability and travel intelligence;

Defining criteria for operational deployments to increase relevance and effectiveness,

including for data collection.

•

Strategic Objective 2: Deliver agile, real-time operational support

Europol’s operational support to Member States’ investigations

consists of several elements,

chief among which are operational analysis, specialised capabilities, and the facilitation of

operational coordination. Increasing the operational relevance of Europol calls for continued

efforts and investments in such areas.

Europol’s capabilities should,

wherever possible, be targeted towards the kind of

investigations and operations, on which Europol can have most impact and added value. These

investigations and operations are primarily large and complex cross-border investigations

requiring real-time support.

Highlights:

•

Furthering the OTF and HVT concepts for operational support;

Supporting the investigation of all aspects of the criminal business model, including

criminal finance, logistics, communication, corruption and intimidation;

Creating an analysis training and coaching programme to increase the number of

qualified operational and strategic analysis at Europol and in Member States, while

promoting harmonisation of methodology;

Expanding the flexible deployment of short-term SNEs/guest experts;

Optimising internal coordination

of OSINT monitoring across Europol’s centres;

Stepping up support for migrant smuggling cases with essential partners for data

collection outside the EU, with additional support coming through regional OTFs;

•

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•

Nurturing (new) partnerships for combating corruption and environmental crime

through dedicated alliances, including relevant private parties;

Specialised and coordinated support in financial investigations, crypto-currency tracing

and online crimes through knowledge management among experts.

Strategic Objective 3: Be a platform for European policing solutions

Europol’s role of offering a platform for competent

authorities to develop and use policing

tools and expertise has benefitted from the Europol Platform for Experts (EPE) and Operations

Network Experts Platform (ONEP). These will be further developed in line with user needs and

technical developments.

In addition, Europol will seek, where relevant and possible, to invest in platforms that can

contribute to operational coordination between partners. These may also serve joint capacity

building and the sharing of expertise and tools.

Highlights:

•

Enabling the coordination of the collective response to the criminal threats through

EMPACT and, where relevant, by suitable means for counter-terrorism;

Creating a coordination and de-confliction solution for HVTs;

Facilitating rapid crisis response mechanisms;

Providing guidance for Member States’ users to find the right

products and services,

including technical tools and extended support services to manage their expected

growth;

Creating a single digital portal for accessing Europol’s processing

systems, specialised

tools, services, data, contacts and expertise;

Rolling out in-built translation tools to facilitate communication for users in Member

States’ competent authorities and other partners.

•

Strategic Objective 4: Bring the relevant partners together for cross-border

cooperation and joint action

Operational support to Member States often involves the facilitation of contacts with law

enforcement from non-EU countries, with Interpol and other international organisations, and

increasingly with private parties. In the interest of coordination at EU level, the engagement

with EU Agencies in the field of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) is also indispensable.

Since its establishment, Europol has developed into a strong enabler that brings the relevant

partners together, with the significant and valuable community of Liaison Officers at its heart.

The agency intends to foster this evolution in the coming years to maximise operational

results, first and foremost for the Member States, but also for our other partners. Europol will

especially invest in its partnerships with the Schengen Associated Countries, Interpol, and

key JHA agencies such as Frontex.

Highlights:

•

Intensifying the cooperation with the Schengen Associated Countries, as essential

partners of the EU Internal Security Architecture;

Seeking practical solutions for a more targeted operational cooperation with strategic

third parties within the applicable legal frameworks;

Assessing roles and competences that will enable cooperation between Europol and

Interpol, with a view to address Member States’

needs for products and services in

relation to Third States;

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•

Coordinating with other EU JHA Agencies, to offer an aligned set of products and

services to Member States;

Stepping up cooperation with other (non-EU) Agencies and international organisations,

including operational cooperation where possible;

Developing a dedicated strategy for cooperation with private parties, including NGOs

and academia, to optimise their engagement, both for operational interests and to

nurture potential innovation.

Strategic Objective 5: Be at the forefront of law enforcement innovation and

research

The Innovation Lab and its structured connection to Member States serves as a solid

foundation for well-coordinated, collective innovation in the coming years. The operational

relevance of innovation is a leading principle in

the Lab’s work. As a

consequence, the

connection to the operational needs of the Member States, JHA partners, as well as within

Europol, has to be fostered and promoted.

The extended legal possibilities for the processing of personal data for research and innovation

purposes are to be explored and acted upon in an adapted development environment.

Highlights:

•

Identifying the innovative tools and processing capabilities Member States need most,

and enabling their development together with specialised law enforcement services,

as well as research and industry partners;

Pursuing the rapid development of tools supporting data collection and processing,

including through data science and artificial intelligence;

Expanding the Europol Tool Repository with new cutting-edge technology;

Optimising the possibilities for funding and priority attribution for grant schemes;

Engaging proactively with private sector, academia and research institutes, including

through Industry & Research Days;

Stimulating a culture of innovation across Europol.

•

Strategic Objective 6: Be the model EU organisation for law enforcement

cooperation

The operational mission of Europol must stand out in all aspects of its work. This applies also

to the internal support functions that should fulfil their tasks with operational delivery in mind.

The consideration for the specific needs of the law enforcement context in which Europol

operates will be made a priority throughout the agency, optimising our performance and

output.

Highlights:

•

Investing to attract, train and retain specialists in relevant domains of expertise;

Increasing the encouragement of personal development, talent management and

empowerment;

Work with the Management Board and Member States to address legal and

administrative impediments to operational delivery;

Creating an Operational Readiness Function, including relevant internal support

services, for rapid operational response to crises and emergency situations;

Identifying possibilities for a more flexible incorporation of tools and services within

the ICT environment;

Acting on our environmental responsibility to minimise carbon emissions;

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•

Creating a dedicated change management capability across the organisation, in which

in particular the applicable requirements are structured and applied for every technical

solution, process or work practice;

Fostering continued engagement with former Europol staff by investing in the Europol

community, even after their employment with the agency has ended.

•

Table: Key Performance Indicators for measuring multi-annual performance of the agency

Key Performance Indicator

Number of Accepted Contributions by Europol

Number of Operations Supported by Europol

Number of Operational Task Forces supported by Europol

Number of Operational Analysis Reports produced by Europol

Number of Action Days organised/supported by Europol

Satisfaction with Operational Support delivered by Europol

Number of Cross Match Reports and SIENA hit notifications

produced by Europol

Number of searches through EIS and QUEST

Number of SIENA messages exchanged

Number of Strategic Analysis Reports produced by Europol

Satisfaction with Strategic Analysis Reports produced by

Europol

Satisfaction with Operational Training delivered by Europol

Implementation of Audit Recommendations

Vacancy Rate

% Female staff

Budget Commitment Rate

Emissions (CO2)

Target

2026

Indicative targets

2027

2028

The responsibility for this indicator is shared by Europol and its partners (MS, TP). As such, the target is indicative

and used to monitor the trend of accepted contributions.

% of pending critical/very important audit recommendations implemented within the timeline committed to by

Europol and agreed with the auditing body.

It should be noted that measurement of this indicator is done on a yearly basis with results for year N being

available well into year N+1; despite this time lag, Europol considers it important to monitor this KPI.

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2. Human and financial resource outlook for the years 2026-2028

2.1

Overview of the past and current situation

Since its establishment, Europol’s role in the security landscape of the EU has been growing

and, as a result, the agency has been entrusted with several important functions, such as the

European Cybercrime Centre, the European Migrant Smuggling Centre, the European Internet

Referral Unit, within the European Counter-Terrorism Centre, and most recently, the

Innovation Lab and the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre. Although resources

were provided to perform new and additional tasks, Europol has always had to rely on the

shifting of posts from support functions to the Operations Directorate or internal re-allocation

of operational staff. In June 2022, the revised Europol Regulation entered into force; the

Europol Regulation Recast reinforced Europol’s

financial and human resources, beyond the

initial MFF 2021-2027. In addition, from 2024, some additional posts were transferred from

Frontex to Europol, based on an agreement between the two Agencies, for implementing, in

particular, tasks related to ETIAS. Finally, some additional resources were foreseen, as of

2024, in the Prüm II Regulation and, as of 2025, as a reinforcement received by the Budgetary

Authority in the context of the 2025 EU Budgetary process and in the new legislative proposal

for preventing and fighting migrant smuggling (subject to legislative process).

Consequently, for a few years now, Europol has been faced with an increased number of

responsibilities that have inevitably exacerbated the pressure on resources, both staff and

financial.

2.2

Outlook for the years 2026 - 2028

As detailed in section I

– General Context of Europol’s Programming Document 2026-2028,

significant number of new and expanded tasks are foreseen for Europol, stemming from Union

policies and legislation. However, additional resources to perform these new tasks have not

been allocated to Europol in the Legislative Financial Statements (LFS) of these initiatives

–

only some resources were allocated to the Agency in the Interoperability Regulations, the

Prüm II Regulation and the legislative proposal to prevent and fight migrant smuggling, the

latter still under negotiation. While a significant number of resources were provided to the

Agency as part of and for the purpose of implementing the amended Europol Regulation,

some priority projects are expected to have a significant multi-year impact on the resources

of the agency. In addition, inflation pressures affecting mainly staff costs, as communicated

by the European Commission on 16 December 2024

, are expected to further compress the

existing budget in 2026. As a consequence, Europol will continue not to be able to absorb

fully its additional tasks without an adequate reinforcement to its resources.

Consistent with the request for additional resources included in the PD 2025-2027, as

endorsed by the MB in January 2024 and submitted to the budgetary authorities, and

considering the limited reinforcement of resources included in the final budget 2025, Europol

continues to put forward a request for additional resources as part of the EU Budget 2026

process.

The request concerns the five high-priority projects identified in 2024, i.e. Digital Services Act

(DSA); Interoperability (I/O); Second Data Centre, Information Exchange Directive (IED);

and Strategic Housing Roadmap (SHR). In addition, the agency requests funding to offset the

impact of inflation on staff costs, as estimated in the Budget Circular for 2026.

The additional funds currently proposed by the European Commission for Europol in the LFS

of the new legislative proposal to prevent and fight migrant smuggling have been provisionally

included in the PD 2026-2028, in line with the Budget Circular for the preparation of the draft

budget 2026. In this respect, it is worth highlighting that the additional resources proposed

Budget Circular for 2026

–

Agency Instructions Ref. Ares(2024)8946927 - 13/12/2024

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by the Commission in the LFS are significantly lower than the resources estimated by Europol

for the full implementation of the proposed new Regulation, especially with regard to the final

number of TA posts. Therefore, subject to the outcome of the ongoing negotiations, Europol

will be able to support the implementation of this new initiative to the extent covered by the

final number of additional resources, or by de-prioritising and delaying other activities.

Nonetheless, Europol acknowledges that part of the funds foreseen is intended to support the

agency’s

work on biometrics and SIENA integrations, which can also partially serve the

objectives of Interoperability and the Information Exchange Directive - as such; those funds

have been deducted from the final total additional budget requested. The reinforcement

received through the 2025 Budget has also been taken into account in the agency’s request.

A summary of the agency’s

outlook for 2026-2028

is presented in the tables below:

Yearly increase

Human Resources (TA, CA, SNE)

Establishment plan (TA) - TOTAL

Amended Europol Regulation

Prüm II Regulation

Proposal on a Regulation to prevent and fight migrant smuggling

Additional agency Request

2026

(2)

2027

Contract Agents - TOTAL

Proposal on a Regulation to prevent and fight migrant smuggling

Additional agency Request

SNE - TOTAL

Proposal on a Regulation to prevent and fight migrant smuggling

Additional agency Request

Yearly increase

Financial Resources (€)

TOTAL

Proposal on a Regulation to prevent and fight migrant smuggling

Additional agency Request

2026

43,815,377

19,679,000

24,136,377

2027

52,032,744

13,456,000

38,576,744

Additional information per initiative for the period 2026-2027

Relevant justifications for the additional resources needed for each of the five initiatives for the

period 2026-2027 are presented in the following paragraphs.

Temporary agent numbers are approved by the Budgetary Authority (establishment plan). Contract Agent and SNE

numbers: approved by the MB within budget availability - numbers are included in the agency's request and COM

provides recommendation. If additional budget is necessary, this is approved by the Budgetary Authority.

For 2025, including EUR 13.1 to cover the inflation

effects affecting mainly staff costs, as estimated in the COM’s

Budget Circular 2025.

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Digital Services Act (DSA)

The Digital Services Act (DSA) entered into force on 16 November 2022 and its rules have

become applicable in full since February 2024. In its Article

18 (“Notifications of suspicions of

criminal offences”),

the DSA stipulates a role for Europol as an authority which can be notified,

if hosting service providers (HSPs) cannot identify with certainty the concerned Member

States related to threats to life or safety. Given its experience with the implementation of the

Terrorist Content Online Regulation, Europol has been heavily involved, since the preparatory

stages, in supporting MS law enforcement and the regulator for the DSA implementation. A

DSA Focus Group

for Member States, supported by Europol, was established in December

2023 to ensure a streamlined and harmonised EU MS approach for the implementation of

Article 18 DSA as far as the law enforcement domain is concerned.

Moreover,

cooperation with DG CNECT

has intensified in the past year. As a result, Europol

signed, on 19 December 2024, a Contribution Agreement of €1.24 M with DG CNECT to initiate

the technical developments for an automated workflow in PERCI to facilitate the intake,

handling and distribution of threat to life or safety of persons notifications received by Europol.

Between August 2023 and mid-December 2024, Europol received

664 notifications

from

OSPs, most of which arrived during the night or in the weekends. In line with resource

availability, Europol has put forward the minimum number of additional operational resources

to ensure the handling of Article 18 notifications and the 24/7 intake process. However,

current manual processes and the growing support required by OSPs are increasingly resource

intensive and affect OSINT/IRU capabilities.

In terms of ICT development, the requested additional resources are needed for expanding

the functionality of PERCI to support referrals and removal orders; for granting direct access

to PERCI by HSPs and managing their workflow on the platform; for adjusting the reporting

functionality and the access requirements and

for working on PERCI’s

infrastructure (incl.

storage and processing power, interconnections, network, security, auditing, scalability and

availability requirements). A phased roll-out of the functionalities over the next years will

prioritise the implementation of the workflow of Article 18 DSA notifications, the

identity/access management and the integration of PERCI with other Europol systems.

Since a part of these additional resource needs has been covered by the recently signed

Contribution Agreement, the final total request has been adjusted accordingly.

Interoperability (I/O)

The

EU Interoperability@Europol

Programme includes the necessary activities for Europol to

implement and operate the tasks related to six EU large-scale IT systems (SIS, VIS, Eurodac,

EES, ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN) and the interoperability components (European Search Portal

(ESP), shared Biometric Matching Service (sBMS), Common Identity Repository (CIR),

Common Repository for Reporting and Statistics (CRRS)). Additionally, the Screening

Regulation and the Prüm II Regulation will also bring new tasks to Europol.

EU Interoperability is the biggest endeavour undertaken in recent years in the Justice and

Home Affairs domain. Europol’s

role is particularly relevant as automated checks against

Europol data and, in case of hits, the provision of reasoned opinions (ETIAS, VIS Recast) will

allow the identification of potential and actual security risks posed by third country nationals

prior to their arrival to the EU. Access to millions of records in the EU IT systems will allow

for a more comprehensive and complete criminal analysis to support the Member States. New

possibilities for (biometric) identification will enhance the identification of criminals and the

detection of identity fraud. At the same time, short deadlines, the scale of changes and the

need for resources both in the development phase and after the entry into operation of the

EU IT systems make the EU Interoperability Programme a challenge for the organisation.

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The Management Board specifically discussed in 2022 the resource needs of Europol related

to interoperability. The figures provided in this note are based on the 2022 estimates, revised

to:

•

Reflect the current EU Interoperability timeline i.e. ETIAS

–

2025, ECRIS-TCN

–

2025,

VIS and Eurodac

–

2026, Prüm II and Screening Regulation

–

2026/2027;

Take into account the resources already allocated to the new Integrated Operational

Services Unit in 2024 as a result of the agreement with Frontex for the transfer of 25

posts;

Take into account the experience gained from SIRENE.

•

Moreover, in line with its Biometrics Roadmap

, Europol has started working on the

establishment and strengthening of its capabilities related to biometrics, taking into account:

•

the milestones and requirements of the EU Interoperability Programme, particularly in

the framework of the revised VIS Regulation and Prüm II;

the support required by Member States in implementation of the EU large scale IT

systems;

the possible implications of the legislative initiative to prevent and fight migrant

smuggling, expected to be adopted in the course of 2025.

Additional ICT resources are requested to manage and develop the necessary systems,

including update of the current AFIS, FACE and EIS solutions for scalability, functionality (i.e.

access, search and processing functionalities for fingerprint, DNA and facial images) and data

review and retention requirements across solutions. In the course of 2025, as the first

interoperability systems will become operational, Europol will start experiencing the actual

impact and will be able to assess more accurately its full effect on IM processes, ICT systems

and operational resources.

Second Data Centre

A new (hot) data centre is envisaged and expected to:

•

Increase resilience

–

the power issues in August 2020 that led to unavailability of both

data centres at Europol HQ emphasised the need to position the data centres in two

separate areas (geo-redundancy). This minimises unavailability due to local power grid

issues / shared power infrastructure.

Ensure compliance

–

in line with the Interoperability programme, Europol is requested

to implement the recommendations for geo-redundancy for ETIAS and the

communication equipment for SIS/VIS. Furthermore, it is expected to provide

uninterrupted service (availability of 99.9% or more) for ETIAS searches via Quest.

Europol’s current infrastructure

- that incorporates the location of the data centres - is

designed for an availability of 98%.

Increase availability

–

enable the implementation of near-zero downtime for solutions

with this strict requirement. It should be noted that the geo-redundant data centre

principle does not guarantee such requirement on its own; the entire solution should be

designed and built accordingly, for instance using on-premise cloud native services. For

this to work, the data centres should be close enough to minimise any communication

delays, but far enough to meet the geo-redundancy requirement.

Efficient use of equipment

–

At this moment, due to the design and distance, the Austria

site is used as a backup location. It however contains equipment that potentially can be

used in case of disaster (under normal conditions, this equipment is not used).

•

Strategic Roadmap for Europol capabilities on the processing of biometrics, EDOC#1343065

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Implementing the new data centre at closer vicinity gives the opportunity to implement

the so-called hot/hot data centre principle where all equipment is used continuously at

both sites to host Europol’s ICT services. In this case, the Austria site will be further

scaled down for backup purposes only, reducing the need for equipment which is not

actively used.

Increased resilience, availability and compliance are considered mandatory as part of the

interoperability tasks of Europol.

The project is a multi-year one with several phases and costs related to buildings, hardware

and software, services and training. Discussions on the identification of an appropriate

location are being finalised with the Host State and the setting up and implementation of the

data centre is foreseen to start in 2026.

Information Exchange Directive

The Directive on information exchange entered into force on 12 June 2023. The Directive is

highly relevant for Europol and will have a significant impact on Europol’s resources, since it

intends to establish SIENA as the mandatory channel for the exchange of criminal information

by default. Moreover, under the IED, each Member State (MS) and Schengen Associated

Country (SAC) shall establish or designate a SPOC. This central entity will coordinate and

facilitate information exchanges and operate continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

SPOCs are required to maintain a Case Management System interoperable with SIENA, enabling

the recording and tracking of all requests and responses, and are required to keep Europol

systematically informed, insofar as the exchanges concern crimes falling under the scope of

Europol’s mandate as specified in the Europol Regulation. As of 12 December 2024, the

Directive is fully applicable in the MS, with the exception of the provision on the secure

communication channel, which has to be transposed by June 2027.

It is estimated that the number of SIENA messages received by Europol will increase

to reach up to 1 million messages in 2027

(by comparison, Europol received around

185,000 messages in 2024). The increase in the volume of data will have an impact on both

the Operational & Analysis Centre and the crime Centres at Europol, with needs for additional

duty officers, analysts and specialists for data review and data quality. Taking into account the

current and expected rate of implementation in the Member States and potential efforts by

Europol to optimise further the internal processes, the level of additional operational resources

estimated in this area has been kept to the minimum level for the next two years. In the course

of 2025, as Europol will start experiencing the actual impact of the application of the IED in the

MS on its information flows, it will be able to assess more accurately the full effect on IM

processes, ICT systems and operational resources. It should be noted, however, that the

expectation is that Europol will face resource needs of up to 100 additional operational staff to

meet the increased needs for operational support and criminal analysis.

Due to the lack of sufficient resources and given that there are projects of higher priority, as

described before, it was agreed to focus in 2025/2026 mainly on the technical preparatory

activities for IED, whilst its operationalisation will be postponed to 2027. As such, in the coming

two years, Europol will continue prioritising the support to Member States with the design and

further development of SIENA and with the relevant integrations with Member States systems.

While a small part of the ICT resource gap for 2025 has been covered with the funds included

in the final budget 2025, additional resources will still be required in 2026 in terms of ICT

investments to cover scalability, availability and functionality requirements, the expected

impact on other Europol systems due to the increased volume of data intake (e.g. Data Analysis

Portal, Case Management, Unified Search Engine, Large File Exchange tool, IAM), security and

compliance requirements and support services, such as providing a helpdesk for users and

training.

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Strategic Housing Roadmap (SHR)

The Strategic Housing Roadmap is a multi-year programme comprised of several projects

with significant budgetary consequences for Europol. In 2026, the following work is

envisaged:

•

Advance with the implementation of the Mid-Term Housing Solution (MTHS) project in the

HQ to increase workplace capacity, provide additional meeting rooms and other related

facilities, and strengthen the building according to the applicable governmental building

regulations.

Prepare for the plank floor slabs’ strengthening process at HQ.

Temporary Satellite Building 3 (TSB 3) project: create additional workplaces, meeting

rooms and other related facilities to support organisational growth and new business

demands, until the delivery of HQ2. The second phase of the project is completed and the

full building is operational for use.

Long-Term Housing Measures (LTHM) project: advance with the implementation of the

project to secure and deliver a second permanent headquarters (HQ2).

Hot Data Centre (HDC) project: develop the HDC to ensure Europol’s business continuity,

in accordance with business requirements.

Low-rise Toren van Oud project: finalise the project to relocate the Medical Centre and

Gym & Fitness facilities, in order to create space in the HQ for the implementation of the

MTHS (forecasted delivery Q1 2027).

Alternative Temporary Housing: progress on establishing alternative temporary

workplaces and meeting spaces to support organisational growth and new business

demands until the delivery of HQ2.

•

Costs include consultancy fees, both for facilities and ICT, one-time investment costs, security

personnel and network connectivity for workspaces and meeting rooms.

2.3

Risk considerations

As outlined in the Europol Programming Document 2025-2027

, the identified corporate risks

in terms of threats to Europol’s objectives are expected to impinge on the organisation’s

development and performance in 2026. All five high priority development initiatives listed in

this cover note are therefore assessed to be affected by Europol’s identified corporate risks.

While the estimates presented in this cover note for 2026 onwards have been developed in a

prudent manner, these hold several elements of uncertainty

, influenced by:

•

external developments, including with regard to emerging technical evolution and

innovation (Artificial Intelligence (AI) data science etc.); the

ability to acquire and availability of the needed competencies and skills, in particular with

respect to externally contracted services; the

delivery of the 2025 ICT Work Plan;

dependencies with regard to Member States and (operational) cooperation partners, the

Host State as well as collaboration with private parties; the

development of ongoing legislative and regulatory initiatives, as well as the related scope,

complexity and modalities of their translation into technical requirements for the

corresponding solution design (to inform detailed project planning prior to implementation

and deployment).

EDOC#1340002-Europol Programming Document 2025-2027 - Annex XIV Corporate Risks 2025, adopted by the

Management Board (MB) on 10 December 2024.

Europol is satisfied that the resource estimates are the result of a conservative and robust assessment process

across the organisation; however, a fairly high degree of uncertainty is inherent to the process.

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From an overall perspective, the five high priority development initiatives outlined in this

section will be subject to continuous re-assessment and are expected to extend well into

2028, therefore resulting in further anticipated investment need for the next Multiannual

Financial Framework (MFF).

2.4

Resource programming for the years 2026 - 2028

The text in this section focuses on the resource programming for 2026, which forms the

agency’s

input to the budgetary process for the EU Budget 2026. Indicative programming

figures are also provided for the year 2027. In the absence of a new EU multi-annual financial

framework (MFF) as of 2028, no figures are presented for that year.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Temporary agents

Starting from the 2025 Establishment Plan of 791 posts, the net number of posts in 2026 is

envisaged to increase by 52 Temporary Agent (TA) posts, including: a reduction of 2 posts

foreseen in the Prüm Regulation, an increase of 9 posts stemming from the amended Europol

Regulation (2022), 4 posts from the new legislative proposal to prevent and fight migrant

smuggling and additional 41 posts to adequately perform new tasks as presented in section

2.2.

The following allocation of grades is envisaged for the new posts, based on the approach of

having most resources dedicated to non-managerial tasks:

2026

AD7

AD6

Total

2027

Contract Agents

In line with the new legislative proposal to prevent and fight migrant smuggling and the

Agency’s request,

the number of CAs in 2026 is envisaged to rise by 29

, to a total number

of 289.

Seconded National Experts

The number of Seconded National Experts (SNEs) in 2026 is foreseen to increase to 140, with

additional 6 from the new legislative proposal to prevent and fight migrant smuggling and

two for the Interoperability programme.

For detailed data and numbers per staff category, see Annex IV.

Staff financed with Grant Agreements / Contribution Agreements / Service Legal

Agreements (SLAs)

For 2026 Europol will continue having a number of Contract Agents (CAs) and SNEs directly

funded via grants, contributions or service legal agreements. For detailed information and

numbers per agreement and staff category, see Annex XI.

FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Revenue (payment appropriations):

9 CAs from the LFS of COM(2023)754 and 20 CAs as detailed in section 2.2.

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The main financial source of Europol is the regular Community subsidy. The revenue for 2026

is envisaged to

€ 284M,

including the resources foreseen in the LFS of the legislative proposal

to prevent and fight migrant smuggling and the agency’s

request, as detailed in section 2.2.

Expenditure:

The

total Europol Estimate 2026 comes to € 285.5M

as Commitment Appropriations

and

€

284M as Payment Appropriations,

which is an increase of 15.5% (+€ 38.2M) of Commitment

Appropriations compared to the Final Budget

2025 of € 247.3M.

The Estimate highlights the

growth in operational needs of the organisation and an increased number of tasks. An

Estimate of € 24.1M is

put forward as the agency request in excess of the current MFF, as

detailed in section 2.2.

Title 1

–

Staff expenditure:

Staff expenditure in 2026 amounts to €

153.1M and represents 53.6% of the total budget. It

foresees € 10.5M increase compared to

the Final Budget 2025. The main budget in Title 1

(Chapter 11

–

Staff in active employment), is reserved for the salary, allowances and other

staff costs for TAs and CAs and comes to €

138.1M, which is an increase of

€ 7.4M

compared

to the Final Budget 2025.

The Estimate foresees the staff and salaries expenditure for 843 TAs and 289 CAs in total,

(additional 52 TAs and 29 CAs when compared to 2025). The Estimate is based on several

assumptions which will be closely monitored during the year such as: a salary increase of 4%,

no envisaged change in the weighting coefficient for the Netherlands

, a “budgetary”

vacancy

rate of 3.5% and expected recruitment of new posts in Q2-Q3 2026.

The Estimate for Socio-medical infrastructure such as catering, medical service and social &

sport activities (Chapter 13) and Training for personal development (Chapter 14) is foreseen

at € 1.8M in 2026.

The Estimate for Other staff-related expenditure (Chapter 15) is envisaged to

reach € 13.1M,

which will be used to cover external services costs related to external security, hospitality,

and consultancy services, required for the new developments of the Strategic Housing

Roadmap (SHR). The budget is also envisaged to cover for interim services, internships, PMO

management service and yearly fee for the European school.

The Estimate in Chapter 16 (Entertainment and representation expenses)

amounts to € 0.1M.

Title 2

–

Other Administrative Expenditure:

The Estimate for administrative activities comes to €

15.3M and represents 5.4% of the total

Europol Estimate 2026.

It foresees € 2.4M increase compared to

the Final Budget 2025. The

budget included in this Title supports the operational efficiency and effective functioning of

the agency’s

infrastructure and administrative processes. This budget title typically covers

associated buildings costs, administrative ICT expenditure and other governance,

administrative and statutory expenditure.

Due to the Differentiated Appropriations (DA), the presentation of the budget is split into commitment and payment

appropriations. In fact: Commitment Appropriations (CA)

–

cover the total cost of the legal obligations entered into

during the very first financial year of the call or invitation to apply; Payment Appropriations (PA)

–

cover the

expenditure arising from commitments entered into in the current and/or earlier financial years.

The weightings coefficients refer to the level known at the time of finalising the draft Programming Document

2026-2028 (as of November 2024, 111.4 for The Netherlands).

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The Estimate of

€

11.7M is planned for buildings, security and associated utility costs (Chapter

20). It envisages a substantial budget for SHR developments and regular preventive and

corrective maintenance of the current buildings.

The budget for administrative ICT expenses

(Chapter 21) amounts to € 1.2M

and is foreseen

for regular ICT software renewals as well as consultancies related to ICT projects of

administrative nature.

An amount of €

2.5M is foreseen for the continuation of other governance, administrative and

statutory expenditure (Chapter 22

–

25). These Chapters include budget for various activities

related to open source, legal and other administrative expertise, uniforms, furniture, car fleet,

office supplies, postal and courier services, as well as statutory expenditure, for activities of

the MB and its Working Groups.

Title 3

–

Operational activities:

The Estimate

for Operational activities comes to €

117.1M and represents 41% of the total

Estimate.

It foresees € 25.3M increase compared to

the Final Budget 2025. This budget

partially consists of differentiated appropriations (DA) related to grants (€ 18.3M) included in

Chapter 39.

The Estimate for Operations (Chapter 30),

focuses on the agency’s direct operational activities

and projects. It is designed to fund Europol’s core operational activities, which include

supporting Member States in combating various crimes by organising operational and

strategic meetings, conferences and training, funding staff missions and deploying guest

officers, enhancing capabilities of forensic tools and enhancing communication and public

awareness as part of the operational WEB campaigns, and audio-visuals services. In 2026,

the Estimate

in this area sums up to € 17.4M,

which is in line with the 2025 budget.

Under Title 3, the budget for operational ICT services and programmes (Chapters 31 and 32)

comes to a total of €

70.9M,

which is an increase of €

15.4M compared to 2025. It is envisaged

to continue the multi-annual delivery of numerous projects in the area of ICT and Information

Management, such as Interoperability, the Biometrics Roadmap, the Data Analysis Portal, the

Joint Operational Analysis Case and New Collaborative Environment, supporting the Member

States in their SIENA integrations related to the Information Exchange Directive etc.

An amount of €

9.1M is foreseen under Chapter 33 (Seconded National Experts - Operational)

to support the regular SNE and short-term SNEs in the area of GE/OTF (Guest Experts/

Operational Task Force). The Estimate included in this area is foreseen to cover the allowances

for 90 SNEs (including 8 new) and 50 short-term SNEs (SNE-GE/ OTF)

The budget under Chapter 34 and 35 is foreseen for high-level external stakeholder meetings

and events (Heads of Europol National Units (HENUs) and the Europol Police Chiefs Convention

(EPCC)). The Estimate for 2026

amounts to € 0.5M,

which is in line with the 2025 budget.

An amount of €

is envisaged in 2026 under Chapter 38

–

for the Decryption Platform, to

cover for the operational running costs of the platform, mainly electricity and gas, but also

some maintenance and surveillance security services.

With respect to the differentiated appropriations in Chapter 39

–

Grants, the Commitment

Appropriations (CA) sum up to € 18.3M while the Payment Appropriations (PA) sum up to €

16.8M. The estimate (CA) includes € 10M for EMPACT grants, € 5M for

the continuation of the

Part of the cost of deployed SNE-OTF will be covered from the mission budget (Chapter 30).

Provisional

–

subject to Steering Committee (JRC and Europol) discussions.

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support provided to OTF activities, € 3M for the ATLAS network and € 0.3M for the Euro

Counterfeit Grants. In particular, regarding grants for EMPACT and for support against Euro

counterfeiting, the Estimate provides for the multi-annual calls (2 years implementation).

Estimate 2026

(CA)

10,000,000

300,000

5,000,000

3,000,000

18,300,000

Estimate 2026

(PA)

9,262,500

180,000

4,200,000

3,000,000

150,000

16,792,500

B3-920

B3-930

B3-940

B3-950

B3-960

Total

EMPACT grants

SA Euro CF Grants

OTF Grants

ATLAS Grants

Innovation Grants

2.5

Efficiency gains and savings

Europol is undertaking improvement initiatives and practices on a continuous basis to achieve

efficiency gains and savings. Some examples are presented below.

Optimising resources allocation to align with strategic priorities by:

Implementing proactive budget management, robust monitoring of budget

implementation and regular forecast exercises to ensure the most efficient use of

financial resources, together with the implementation of new automated reporting

tools for a faster data analysis as well as enhanced cost allocation capabilities;

Optimising operational deployments and streamlining the recruitment of (short-term)

SNEs;

Exploring synergies with partners incl. in the external relations domain;

Descoping and/or outsourcing non-core activities;

Establishing

an “Initiative Reserve List”, including purchases which can be compliantly

brought forward from the year N+1 as to ensure highest implementation of the yearly

budget at year end;

Establishing of an ICT reserve list, to ensure faster uptake of new projects to optimise

resource use;

Using ICT leasing and regularly reviewing the costs of maintaining the (growing) ICT

landscape (“run the business” costs) with a view to identifying savings;

Closely monitoring the vacancy rate in an effort to maximise the use of resources made

available to the agency;

Implementing the HR Strategy 2020+, incl. digitalisation of services, work-life balance

through teleworking/smart working and ensuring the right skills for Europol’s

workforce, utilising e-recruitment and appropriate training and development

programmes.

Optimising missions to maintain EMAS certificate and achieve environmental vision

targets;

Increasing remote working;

Using green energy and long-term replacement plan reducing cost for maintenance

and risk of equipment failure;

Optimising office space to the core minimum (hot-desking).

Promoting energy efficiency and sustainability by:

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Further streamlining activities to enhance efficiency by:

Combining meetings with similar topics and same participants;

Optimising use of interpretation for Management Board and its Working Groups;

Combining trainings with similar topics and same participants;

Optimising budget implementation for Grants;

Increasing the use of multi-annual calls/invitations to reduce administration/resource

efforts involved with creation and publication of calls/invitations.

Using videoconferencing where possible, limiting increases to the mission and meeting

budgets;

Using more online trainings, thus reducing missions;

Further extending the use of automated administrative tools (e.g. Sysper, Tagetik,

FMIS etc);

Investing in a set of administrative ICT solutions such as e-procurement, e-signature,

etc.

Exchanging and implementing best practices

engagement with EUAN and its sub-networks);

with/from

other

agencies

(via

Leveraging technology for operational improvements by:

Further streamlining administrative and procurement processes by:

Utilising multiannual commitments/orders to allow better pricing negotiations and

potential savings, in particular in the ICT sector for the acquisition or renewal of

software licenses;

Using procurement templates and systems (e-procurement tools) common to all EU

contracting authorities to familiarise the market with European procurement rules,

streamlining new purchases and renewals;

Developing long-term relationships with vendors, to facilitate negotiations and

increased flexibility and collaboration;

Participating in Interinstitutional procurement procedures for the acquisition/renewal

of standard products and services (such as off the shelf Hardware and Software

products), and for sharing tender effort in terms of market knowledge and resources

needed;

Standardisation and alignment of contractual terms in line with the EU Financial

Regulations (such as in terms of right of audit, liability, escalation procedures and

handling of personal data).

Negative priorities/decrease of existing tasks

2.6

No substantial negative priorities or decrease of existing tasks is foreseen. On the contrary,

the agency’s

tasks are expected to increase beyond the level of the resources

currently

available. Consequently, the agency is requesting additional resources to fund adequately a

number of initiatives and tasks, as detailed above.

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ANNEXES

Annex II:

Resource allocation per Activity 2026-2028

Annex III:

Financial Resources 2026-2028

Table 1

–

Revenue

Table 2

–

Expenditure

Table 3

–

Budget outturn and cancellation of appropriations

Annex IV:

Human resources - quantitative

Table 1

–

Staff population and its evolution; Overview of all categories of staff

Table 2

–

Multi-annual staff policy plan year 2026-2028

Table 3

–

Recruitment forecasts 2026

Annex XI:

Grants

Annex XII:

Strategy for cooperation with third countries and/or international organisations

Annex XIII:

Research and innovation activities 2026

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Annex II: Resources allocation per activity 2026

–

2028

Year 2025

CA & SNE

(FTE)

233

143

Budget

Allocated

81,166,592

21,041,102

24,630,866

17,705,013

20,826,837

11,723,179

10,696,810

187,790,399

43,759,204

15,758,000

Year 2026

Resource estimates

CA &

SNE

(FTE)

173

115

657

138

233

143

Budget

allocated

80,184,795

19,208,970

31,088,025

20,382,701

21,584,431

14,522,169

10,457,601

197,428,693

44,273,610

19,679,000

Year 2027

Resource estimates

CA &

SNE

(FTE)

173

116

662

138

233

143

Budget

allocated

81,439,053

19,028,978

28,579,478

19,454,191

25,571,880

13,220,696

10,780,487

198,074,762

45,026,225

13,456,000

Year 2028

Resource estimates

A.1. Development of

operational ICT and IM

capabilities

A.2. Operational Coordination

A.3. Combating Serious and

Organised Crime

A.4. Combating Cyber Crime

A.5. Counter-Terrorism

A.6. Combating Financial and

Economic Crime

A.7. Strategic and Analysis

Coordination

Total Operational Activities

A.8. Governance, support and

administration (incl. MBF)

Anti-migrant smuggling

regulation COM(2023)

754(AMS)

INITIATIVES 2026-2027

Digital Services Act (DSA)

Interoperability (I/O)

Second Data Centre

Information Exchange Directive

Strategic Housing Roadmap

(SHR)

Governance/administration

Adjustment for synergies with

AMS

Adjustment for additional 15TA

from 2025

Request for high salary increase

TOTAL Additional resources

Total

791

174

112

650

138

2,184,000

6,596,000

7,556,000

9,460,000

9,727,377

504,000

(10,871,000)

5,055,840

9,447,800

7,878,720

6,632,960

13,381,024

1,468,800

(4,248,000)

(15)

(3,060,000)

2,040,000

(15)

(3,121,200)

2,080,800

392

247,307,603

843

429

43,815,377

285,517,680

115

915

440

52,032,744

295,133,731

In the absence of a new EU MFF (as of 2028), figures for 2028 are not presented.

Subject to the conclusion of the legislative process.

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Annex III: Financial Resources 2026

–

2028

Table 1 - Revenue

General revenues

REVENUES

(Payment Appropriations)

EU contribution

Other revenue

TOTAL REVENUES

246,025,103

284,010,180

General revenues

REVENUES

Executed

2024

1 REVENUE FROM FEES AND

CHARGES

2 EU CONTRIBUTION

- Of which assigned revenues deriving

from previous years' surpluses

3 THIRD COUNTRIES

CONTRIBUTION (incl. EEA/EFTA and

candidate countries)

- Of which EEA/EFTA (excl. Switzerland)

- Of which candidate countries

4 OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS

5 ADMINISTRATIVE OPERATIONS

- Of which interest generated by funds

paid by the Commission by way of the

EU contribution (FFR Art. 58)

6 REVENUES FROM SERVICES

RENDERED AGAINST PAYMENT

7 CORRECTION OF BUDGETARY

IMBALANCES

TOTAL

220,230,599

246,025,103

284,010,180

1.15

293,303,731

10,314,092

6,283,397

3,450,520

220,230,599

Estimated

by the

agency

2025

246,025,103

2026

Agency

request

284,010,180

Budget

forecast

VAR

2026/

2025(

1.15

Envisaged

2027

Envisaged

2028

2025

Revenues estimated by the

agency

246,025,103

2026

Budget forecast

284,010,180

293,303,731

Reflects the draft surplus for 2024 and may be subject to changes or adjustments.

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Additional EU funding: grant, contribution and service-level agreements

REVENUES

2025

Revenues estimated by the agency

TOTAL REVENUES

3,234,393

2026

Budget forecast

3,067,293

Additional EU funding: grant, contribution and service-level agreements

REVENUES

Executed

2024

ADDITIONAL EU FUNDING STEMMING

FROM GRANTS (FFR Art.7)

ADDITIONAL EU FUNDING STEMMING

FROM CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENTS

(FFR Art.7)

ADDITIONAL EU FUNDING STEMMING

FROM SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS

(FFR Art. 43.2)

TOTAL

528,008

1,400,967

Estimated by

the agency

2025

167,100

1,744,793

2026

Agency

request

Budget

forecast

1,744,793

VAR

2026/2025

(%)

1.00

Envisaged

2027

Envisaged

2028

1,124,793

450,000

1,616,113

3,545,089

1,322,500

3,234,393

1,322,500

3,067,293

1.00

0.95

1,322,500

2,447,293

146,250

596,250

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Table 2 - Expenditure

Expenditure

Commitment

appropriations

Title 1 - Staff expenditure

Title 2 - Infrastructure and

operating expenditure

Title 3 - Operational expenditure

TOTAL EXPENDITURE

142,601,813

12,950,575

91,755,215

247,307,603

2025

Payment

appropriations

142,601,813

12,950,575

90,472,715

246,025,103

Commitment

appropriations

153,107,033

15,342,293

117,068,354

285,517,680

2026

Payment

appropriations

153,107,033

15,342,293

115,560,854

284,010,180

Commitment appropriations

EXPENDITURE

Executed Budget

2024

(COMMITTED)

Budget

2025

Estimate 2026

Agency request

Budget forecast

VAR

2026/2025

Envisaged

2027

Envisaged

2028

Title 1 Staff Expenditure

11 Salaries & allowances

- of which establishment plan posts

- of which external personnel

13 Sociomedical infrastructure

14 Training

15 Other staff-related expenditure

16 Entertainment and representation

expenses

Title 2 Other administrative

expenditure

20 Rental of buildings and associated

costs

21 Administrative information

technology

22 Movable property and associated

costs

23 Current administrative

expenditure

24 Postal charges and

telecommunications

25 Statutory expenditure

Title 3 Operational activities

30 Operations

31 Operational information

technology

32 Telecommunication costs for

operational activities

125,050,799

115,869,200

97,553,235

18,315,965

904,134

88,500

8,077,566

111,400

12,849,848

9,173,928

1,240,225

1,037,727

667,230

51,300

679,437

82,132,415

13,568,390

46,145,856

1,346,033

142,601,813

130,681,000

108,191,000

22,490,000

1,280,200

258,613

10,277,800

104,200

12,950,575

9,172,600

1,218,275

879,200

831,900

70,600

778,000

91,755,215

17,557,862

53,532,553

1,892,800

153,107,033

138,123,603

114,371,603

23,752,000

1,486,000

291,691

13,104,539

101,200

15,342,293

11,655,764

1,218,275

1,096,518

521,724

72,012

778,000

117,068,354

17,390,058

68,971,496

1,892,800

1.07 168,135,146

1.06 153,568,349

1.06 127,699,709

1.06

25,868,640

1.16

1,486,000

1.13

291,691

1.28

12,687,906

0.97

1.18

1.27

1.00

1.25

0.63

101,200

19,903,293

16,216,764

1,218,275

1,096,518

521,724

1.02

72,012

1.00

778,000

1.28 107,095,292

0.99

16,083,387

1.29

1.00

62,727,905

1,892,800

It reflects the preliminary Executed CA Budget for 2024 and may be subject to changes or adjustments.

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Commitment appropriations

EXPENDITURE

Executed Budget

2024

(COMMITTED)

Budget

2025

Estimate 2026

Agency request

Budget forecast

VAR

2026/2025

Envisaged

2027

Envisaged

2028

33 Seconded National Experts

(Operational)

34 EPCC

35 Heads of Europol National Units

38 Decryption Platform

39 Grants

TOTAL EXPENDITURE

6,405,887

289,504

145,500

512,648

13,718,597

220,033,062

7,962,000

300,000

160,000

1,000,000

9,350,000

247,307,603

9,054,000

300,000

160,000

1,000,000

18,300,000

285,517,680

1.14

9,581,200

1.00

300,000

1.00

160,000

1.00

1,000,000

1.96

15,350,000

1.15 295,133,731

EXPENDITURE

Title 1 Staff Expenditure

11 Salaries & allowances

- of which establishment plan posts

- of which external personnel

13 Sociomedical infrastructure

14 Training

15 Other staff-related expenditure

16 Entertainment and representation

expenses

Title 2 Other administrative

expenditure

20 Rental of buildings and associated

costs

21 Administrative information

technology

22 Movable property and associated

costs

23 Current administrative expenditure

24 Postal charges and

telecommunications

25 Statutory expenditure

Title 3 Operational activities

30 Operations

31 Operational information

technology

32 Telecommunication costs for

operational activities

33 Seconded National Experts

(Operational)

34 EPCC

35 Heads of Europol National Units

38 Decryption Platform

Executed Budget

2024 (PAID)

Payment appropriations

Budget 2026

Budget

2025 Agency request

Budget forecast

VAR

2026/2025

Envisaged

2027

Envisaged

2028

124,018,489

115,854,768

97,538,803

18,315,965

818,621

31,843

7,228,328

84,929

8,890,128

6,266,326

1,169,646

469,159

513,537

38,446

433,015

61,839,310

10,755,425

33,034,961

1,181,446

6,405,887

160,415

116,173

512,648

142,601,813

130,681,000

108,191,000

22,490,000

1,280,200

258,613

10,277,800

104,200

12,950,575

9,172,600

1,218,275

879,200

831,900

70,600

778,000

90,472,715

17,557,862

53,532,553

1,892,800

7,962,000

300,000

160,000

1,000,000

153,107,033

138,123,603

114,371,603

23,752,000

1,486,000

291,691

13,104,539

101,200

15,342,293

11,655,764

1,218,275

1,096,518

521,724

72,012

778,000

115,560,854

17,390,058

68,971,496

1,892,800

9,054,000

300,000

160,000

1,000,000

1.07

1.06

1.16

1.13

1.28

0.97

1.18

1.27

1.00

1.25

0.63

1.02

1.00

1.28

0.99

1.29

1.00

1.14

1.00

168,135,146

153,568,349

127,699,709

25,868,640

1,486,000

291,691

12,687,906

101,200

19,903,293

16,216,764

1,218,275

1,096,518

521,724

72,012

778,000

105,265,292

16,083,387

62,727,905

1,892,800

9,581,200

300,000

160,000

1,000,000

Including for 2026, among others, differentiated commitment appropriations amounting to EUR 18 300 000 (EUR 10 000 000 for EMPACT, EUR 300 000 for fighting EURO

counterfeiting, EUR 5 000 000 for OTF and EUR 3 000 000 for ATLAS).

It reflects a preliminary Executed PA Budget for 2024 and may be subject to changes or adjustments.

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europol Unclassified

–

Basic Protection Level

EXPENDITURE

39 Grants

TOTAL EXPENDITURE

Executed Budget

2024 (PAID)

Payment appropriations

Budget 2026

Budget

2025 Agency request

Budget forecast

VAR

2026/2025

Envisaged

2027

Envisaged

2028

9,672,356

194,747,927

8,067,500

246,025,103

16,792,500

284,010,180

2.08

1.15

13,520,000

293,303,731

Including for 2026, among others, differentiated payment appropriations amounting to EUR 16 792 500 (EUR 9 262 500 for EMPACT, EUR 180 000 for fighting EURO

counterfeiting, EUR 4 200 000 for OTF, EUR 3 000 000 for ATLAS and EUR 150 000 for Innovation grants).

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europol Unclassified

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Basic Protection Level

Table 3 Budget outturn and cancellation of appropriations 2021-2024 (N-4

–

N-2)

Budget outturn

Revenue actually received (+)

Payments made (-)

Carry-over of appropriations (-)

Cancellation of appropriations carried over (+)

Adjustment for carry-over of assigned revenue

appropriations from previous year (+)

Exchange rate differences (+/-)

Total

2021

177,370,336

(148,871,757)

(37,028,367)

2,926,585

10,702,251

(428)

5,098,619

2022

201,325,849

(165,414,326)

(40,478,220)

3,802,497

11,078,105

186

10,314,092

2023

217,166,022

(191,340,681)

(30,754,730)

3,737,470

7,475,344

(28)

6,283,397

2024

232,154,735

(206,265,223)

(31,921,235)

1,715,169

7,767,303

(228.57)

3,450,520

Descriptive information and justification on:

Budget outturn

The overall preliminary draft budget result for the financial year 2024 comes to EUR 3 450 520. This includes the following:

An amount of EUR 197 538 of not committed and lapsed commitment appropriations for non differentiated appropriations

(NDA);

An amount of EUR 1 538 041 of not used payment appropriations (DA)

An amount of EUR 1 715 169 of not used payment appropriations (NDA) carried forward from 2023 to 2024;

An amount of EUR -228.57 the loss of the exchange rate difference in 2024.

Cancellation of payment appropriations carried forward

The carry forward of payment appropriations to 2024 came to a total of EUR 22 987 428 to cover existing commitments. The final

implementation rate of the carry forward was 92.5% at the end of the year. A total of EUR 1 715 169 was not used and is thus

incorporated in the final budget outturn.

•

EUR 154 260 relates to Title 1, which is 13.3% of the carried forward amount under Title 1 (EUR 1 161 642);

EUR 105 223 relates to Title 2, which is 2.3% of the carried forward amount under Title 2 (EUR 4 629 539); and

EUR 1 455 686 relates to Title 3, which is 8.5% of the carried forward amount under Title 3 (EUR 17 196 247).

Reflects the draft surplus for 2024 and may be subject to changes or adjustments.

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europol Unclassified

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Basic Protection Level

Annex IV: Human resources quantitative

Table 1: Staff population and its evolution; Overview of all categories of staff

Statutory staff and SNE

Staff

Year 2024

Authorised Budget

731

Actually filled as

of 31/12/2024

722

Occupancy

rate %

98.8%

100.0%

Year 2025

Authorised

staff

768

Year 2026

Envisaged staff

820

Year 2027

Envisaged staff

892

Year 2028

Envisaged staff

ESTABLISHMENT PLAN POSTS

Administrators (AD)

Assistants (AST)

Assistants/Secretaries (AST/SC)

TOTAL ESTABLISHMENT PLAN

POSTS

754

FTE

corresponding

to the

authorised

budget

255

121

376

1130

745

Executed

FTE as of

31/12/2024

98.8%

791

Headcount

as of

31/12/2024

217

307

843

915

EXTERNAL STAFF

Execution

rate %

Envisaged FTE

Envisaged

FTE

Envisaged

FTE

Contract Agents (CA)

Seconded National Experts (SNE)

TOTAL EXTERNAL STAFF

TOTAL STAFF

214.9

93.8

308.7

1053.1

84.3%

77.5%

82.1%

93.2%

289

140

429

295

145

440

CA financed from the EU contribution: 217 Headcount (214.9 Annual average FTE); CA financed from other sources: 16 Headcount (16.29 Annual average FTE). SNE financed

from the EU contribution at 31/12/2024: 52 Headcount (53.39 Annual average FTE) and Short-term costed SNE: 38 Headcount (40.42 Annual average FTE). SNE financed from

other sources: 7 Headcount (7.67 Annual average FTE). Cost free SNE: 33 Headcount (29.7 Annual average FTE); SNE Guest Officers: 50 Headcount (58.1 Annual average

FTE).

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europol Unclassified

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Basic Protection Level

B. Additional external staff expected to be financed from grant, contribution or service-level agreements

Human Resources

Contract Agents (CA)

Seconded National Experts (SNE)

TOTAL

Year 2025

Year 2026

Year 2027

Year 2028

Envisaged FTE Envisaged FTE Envisaged FTE

C. Other Human Resources

Structural service providers

Actually in place as at

31/12/2024

Facilities

Security

Other

TOTAL

163

245

Interim workers

Total FTEs in year

2024

Number

Service providers are contracted by a private company and carry out specialised outsourced tasks of a horizontal/support nature. At the EU Commission, following general

criteria should be fulfilled: 1) no individual contract with the EU Commission 2) on the EU Commission premises, usually with a PC and desk 3) administratively followed by the

EU Commission (badge, etc.) and 4) contributing to the added value of the EU Commission. Similarly, Europol reports on the number of contractors with IT access.

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europol Unclassified

–

Basic Protection Level

Table 2

–

Multi-annual staff policy plan 2026 - 2028

Function group

Year 2024

Year 2025

Authorised budget

Perm.

posts

Temp.

posts

133

246

242

768

Year 2026

Envisaged

Perm.

posts

Temp.

posts

148

263

261

820

168

269

283

892

Year 2027

Envisaged

Perm.

Posts

Temp.

posts

Year 2028

Envisaged

Perm.

posts

Temp.

posts

and grade

Authorised budget

Permanent

posts

Temporary

posts

105

239

276

731

Actually filled as of

31/12

Permanent

posts

Temporary

posts

235

293

722

AD 16

AD 15

AD 14

AD 13

AD 12

AD 11

AD 10

AD 9

AD 8

AD 7

AD 6

AD 5

AD TOTAL

AST 11

AST 10

AST 9

AST 8

AST 7

AST 6

AST 5

AST 4

AST 3

AST 2

AST 1

AST TOTAL

In accordance with Article 38, paragraph 1, of the Decision of the Europol Management Board on the adoption of the Financial Regulation applicable to Europol

(EDOC#1032027v6), the Management Board hereby agrees with a modification of the establishment plan, should the interest of the service so require (e.g. in the context of

the reclassification exercise), by up to 10% of posts authorised subject to the following conditions:

the volume of staff appropriations corresponding to a full financial year is not affected;

the limit of the total number of posts authorised by the establishment plan is not exceeded;

Europol has taken part in a benchmarking exercise with other Union bodies as initiated by the Commission’s staff screening

exercise.

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

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Basic Protection Level

Function group

Year 2024

Year 2025

Authorised budget

Perm.

posts

Temp.

posts

Year 2026

Envisaged

Perm.

posts

Temp.

posts

Year 2027

Envisaged

Perm.

Posts

Temp.

posts

Year 2028

Envisaged

Perm.

posts

Temp.

posts

and grade

Authorised budget

Permanent

posts

Temporary

posts

Actually filled as of

31/12

Permanent

posts

Temporary

posts

AST/SC 6

AST/SC 5

AST/SC 4

AST/SC 3

AST/SC 2

AST/SC 1

AST/SC TOTAL

TOTAL

GRAND TOTAL

754

745

791

843

915

External personnel

Contract Agents

Contract agents

FTE

Executed FTE as Headcount as of

FTE

corresponding to of 31/12/2024

31/12/2024 corresponding to envisaged 2026

the authorised

budget 2024

budget 2025

118

55.3

108.2

51.4

104

118

122

FTE

envisaged 2027

FTE

envisaged 2028

Function Group IV

Function Group III

Function Group II

Function Group I

TOTAL

104

122

255

214.9

217

260

289

295

Seconded National Experts

FTE

Executed FTE as Headcount as of

FTE

corresponding to of 31/12/2024

31/12/2024 corresponding to envisaged 2026

the authorised

budget 2024

budget 2025

121

93.8

90.0

132

140

FTE

envisaged 2027

FTE envisaged

2028

TOTAL

145

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Europol Unclassified

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Basic Protection Level

Table 3 - Recruitment forecasts 2026 following retirement/mobility or new requested posts

(information on the entry level for each type of posts: indicative table)

Job title in the Agency

Type of contract

(Official, TA or CA)

TA/Official

Function group/grade of recruitment

internal (brackets) and external (single

grade) foreseen for publication

New posts requested due

to additional tasks

52 TA posts. This includes 9

posts stemming from amended

Europol Regulation, 4 from

legislative proposal to prevent

and fight migrant smuggling

COM (2023) 754 final and 41 as

agency request to fulfil tasks for

Interoperability

(incl.

establishing a second data

centre), Digital Services Act,

Information Exchange Directive

and to implement the Strategic

Housing Roadmap.

29 CA positions. This includes 9

posts

stemming

from

the

legislative proposal to prevent

and fight migrant smuggling

COM(2023) 754 final and 20 as

agency request to implement the

Strategic Housing Roadmap

–

the latter is not part of the

budgetary authority’s decision

on the establishment plan and

corresponding budget for the

agency.

Recruitment

Function

Group (I,

II, III or

IV)

Due to foreseen

retirement/mobility

Allocation of new posts /

replacement of staff

members due to resignation

/ contract expiry and

definition of profiles will be

done in line with Europol’s

mandate and business

priorities and on the basis of

the MASPP.

Number of anticipated

compulsory retirements:

5 (4 TAs and 1 CAs)

End of 2

contracts:

TA contracts: 43

(restricted) + 48

potentially (non-

restricted

–

pending

outcome of different

indefinite contract

procedures)

CA contracts: 16 (2

FGII, 8 FGIII and 6

FGIV)

Internal (brackets)

Most internal

recruitments will be in

the brackets AD5-AD12

and AD7-AD12

External (brackets)

Most recruitments will

be AD6/Specialist or

AD7/Senior Specialist

No significant

change

expected vis-

à-vis current

CAs.

Number of inter-agency mobility Year 2025 from and to the agency (to be included in final PD):

To Europol (in)

To other Agencies (out)

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europol Unclassified

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Basic Protection Level

Annex XI: Grants

A. Grant, Contribution and Service-level Agreements resulting in revenue and additional budget

Date of signature Total amount

Grant agreements

1. H2020 - STARLIGHT

101021797 - part of consortium

coordinated by CEA, FR

05/05/2021

(starting date

1/10/2021)

General information

Duration

Counterpart

European

Commission

Research Executive

Agency

Short description

Sustainable Autonomy and

Resilience for LEAs using

AI against High priority

Threats

Amount

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

Amount

N-1 (2025)

167,100

Financial and HR impacts

N (2026)

N+1 (2027)

N+2 (2028)

17,000,000 for

the consortium of

which 891,200 for

Europol

48 months

Total grant agreements

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

Contribution agreements

1. EaP EMPACT

Contribution Agreement number 5/12/2024

700002208

(starting date

1/1/2025)

2. SIRIUS phase 3

New Agreement

number 700002618

3. Perci workflow Article 18 DSA

LC-03708278

6/12/2024

(starting date

1/1/2025)

19/12/2024

(starting date

1/1/2025)

1,800,000 48 months

3,500,000

(2,024,377.60

Europol,

1,475,622.40

36 months

European

Commission

DG Near

European

Commission

Service for Foreign

Policy Instruments

European

Commission

DG CONNECT

Fighting against organised

crime in the Eastern

Partnership region II

Amount

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

450,000

674,793

620,000

1,744,793

450,000

1,240,000 24 months

Amount

Fighting against organised

crime in the Eastern

Number of CAs

Partnership region II

Number of SNEs

Initiation of the development

Amount

of a “Threat-to-life

notifications” workflow in

Number of CAs

PERCI

Number of SNEs

Amount

674,793

620,000

Total contribution agreements

1,744,793

1,124,793

450,000

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

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Europol Unclassified

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Basic Protection Level

Date of signature

Total amount

General information

Duration

Counterpart

Short description

N-1 (2025)

Financial and HR impacts

N (2026)

N+1 (2027)

N+2 (2028)

Service-level agreements

maximum

4,120,000

(1,030,000 per

year)

To support law enforcement

authorities preventing crime

and fraud related to

Intellectual Property Rights

Amount

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

97,500

1,322,500

3,234,393

1,322,500

3,067,293

97,500

1,322,500

2,447,293

596,250

97,500

1,322,500

146,250

596,250

1,030,000

97,500

73,125

146,250

1,030,000

97,500

48,750

73,125

1,030,000

97,500

24,375

48,750

1,030,000

24,375

1. EUIPO - IP Crime and Fraud

26/07/2023

(starting date

1/1/2024)

48 months

2. The European Union Agency for

Law Enforcement Training

(funded via Contribution

Agreement with DG Near)

01/04/2024

3. The European Union Agency for

Law Enforcement Training

(funded via Contribution

Agreement with DG Near)

01/07/2024

4. The European Union Agency for

Law Enforcement Training

(funded via Contribution

Agreement with DG Near)

01/10/2024

Total service-level agreements

390,000 48 months

The European Union

Intellectual Property

Office (EUIPO)

The European Union

Agency for Law

Enforcement

Training

The European Union

Agency for Law

Enforcement

Training

The European Union

Agency for Law

Enforcement

Training

Amount

Western Balkans Partnership

Against

Number of CAs

Crime and Terrorism - WB

Number of SNEs

Training and Operational

Partnership

against Organised Crime

Amount

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

Amount

EUROMED Police VI (Contract

No. 700002160)

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

Amount

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

Amount

TOTAL AGREEMENTS

Number of CAs

Number of SNEs

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europol Unclassified

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Basic Protection Level

B. Grants to be awarded

In 2026, Europol plans to establish seven grant funding instruments to support EU MS in the

fight against organised crime. While Europol integrated differentiated appropriations into its

financial management system in 2023 to enable the publication of calls or invitations spanning

two years, budget constraints may limit the implementation of such multi-annual schemes

across all areas.

Restricted call for proposals to support the implementation of activities

identified by the Council

–

EMPACT High Value Grants 2026/2028

Legal basis

Article 4 and Article 61 of the REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE

COUNCIL on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and

replacing and repealing Council Decisions 2009/371/JHA, 2009/934/JHA, 2009/935/JHA,

2009/936/JHA and 2009/968/JHA.

Council conclusions on setting the EU’s Priorities for the fight against organised and serious

international crime between 2026 and 2029,

once adopted.

Budget line

3920 EMPACT Grants

Priorities of the years, objectives pursued and expected results

Enhancing the fight against serious and organised international crime within the new EMPACT

Cycle 2026-2029.

The call is restricted to EMPACT participants, while all relevant documents are published on the

Europol Platform for Experts

–

a communication tool with EMPACT participants used to reach

all potential applicants. In accordance with the Europol legal basis, the Europol National Unit

(ENU) shall be the liaison body between Europol and the competent authorities of the Member

States. Thus, the applications must always be submitted via the ENU of the Lead Applicant.

The objective of the call is to provide support to Operational Actions laid down in Operational

Action Plans (OAPs) as adopted by the Council. EMPACT 2026-2029 addresses the following

crime areas:

To be added once the Council conclusions are in place.

It is expected that the support will provide for improved cooperation between Member States

law enforcement agencies, EU Institutions, EU Agencies and relevant third parties, while

delivering coherent actions targeting the most pressing criminal threats facing the EU.

Description of the activities to be funded under the call for proposals

Transnational operational and non-operational activities addressing in each of the EMPACT

Priorities at least one of the following objectives: awareness raising and exchange of best

practices; improving data gathering and intelligence sharing, providing strategic support for

current or proposed operational activities; enhancing operational support and cross-border

cooperation.

Grants may not be awarded for activities that are funded under another EU programme or from

Europol’s budget. In this respect, it is noted that Europol is active

in an environment which has

undergone a proliferation of EU funding sources. A statement to ensure respect for the principle

of no double funding from EU sources must be made by applicant(s) in the Application form.

Europol is entitled to perform checks in this respect, including by liaising with external partners

(e.g. DG HOME, Eurojust).

Calls will be designed with the aim of promoting one or more of the following outcomes which

projects applications should aim at achieving:

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 636: Invitation og program til møde i den parlamentariske følgegruppe vedr. Europol (JPSG) i Bruxelles 3-4/11-25

Europol Unclassified

–

Basic Protection Level

fostering communication and coordination amongst participants of OAPs;

sharing of experiences and best practices between EU Member States;

improving intelligence gathering and analyses;

expanding data sharing with Europol information systems and prioritising the use of

SIENA (secure line) as an operational communication tool;

establishing support frameworks to implement operational activities, including where

relevant with third countries or the private sector;

enhancing cross-border/transnational operational cooperation between EU Member

States and, where relevant, with third countries or the private sector;

establishing joint investigations, joint operations or joint action days.

To take into account the specificities of the law enforcement operations, Europol may allow use

of contingency budget for unplanned actions (“red-envelope procedure”) in addition

to planned

actions (“blue envelope”). This is justified based on the need for law enforcement to respond

quickly to opportunities and challenges and is further specified in the Call documentation.

Europol may award using simplified costs or unit costs options, provided that a decision has

been adopted by the Responsible Authorising Officer.

In addition, where duly justified for operational purposes, financial support may cover the full

investment costs of equipment and infrastructure, subject to the following conditions:

- the equipment is required to ensure cross border cooperation and absence of tools would

jeopardise the international investigation involving more than one Member State;

- renting or leasing the equipment would not be possible as it could jeopardise the operation;

- applicants provide assurance that the equipment will be fully dedicated to the action.

Essential eligibility, selection and award criteria

Eligibility criteria:

I. In order to be eligible the Applicant must be a public body established in an EU Member State

participating in the OAP in question (i.e. the particular EMPACT crime priority) and in the law-

enforcement cooperation under Europol Regulation.

No differentiation

is made in Europol’s constituent act between different Member States.

However, the opt-in structure used for JHA under the TFEU creates a varying degree of

participation of Member States. Europol pays due regard to the status of EU Member States

with regard to the Europol Regulation and/or Justice and Home Affairs matters as regards

eligibility to be a (lead) Applicant.

II. The Co-Applicants must be:

• An entity explicitly mentioned as a participant in the OAP;

• If the entity is not explicitly mentioned

in the OAP, any of the following entities may be Co-

Applicants, provided their participation is justified by the nature of the action:

- A public body established in an EU Member State or in a third country OR

- A profit or non-profit-oriented organisation established in an EU Member State or in a

third country, OR

- An International Organisation.

As regards co-applicants, even non-opting-in Member States could be eligible as co-applicants

on the same basis as third countries and third parties provided that their participation is justified

by the nature of the action. Their meaningful participation has however to be possible having

due regard to Europol’s legal obligations on exchange of information with third countries.

III. Applications must involve at least two (2) public bodies established in two (2) different EU

Member States.

Law Enforcement applicants may involve non-LE entities for the purpose of managing a grant

provided that the manner and degree of their involvement satisfies security and confidentiality

concerns. Costs incurred by other types of bodies could be eligible, provided that these can be

justified by the aims of the action and respect the principle of sound financial management.

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IV. The proposed activities must be mentioned in the respective OAPs as approved by COSI

Council decisions.

Selection criteria:

In accordance with Article 198 of the Financial Regulation, proposals for action shall be

evaluated on the basis of the following selection criteria:

- Financial capacity - Applicants and co-applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of

funding to maintain their activity throughout the period during which the activity is being carried

out and to participate in its funding.

- Operational capacity - Applicants and co-applicants must have the professional resources,

competences and qualifications required to complete the proposed action.

The verification of the financial and operational capacity shall not apply to public bodies and

international organisations in accordance with Article 198(5) and (6) of the Financial Regulation.

Award criteria:

In accordance with Article 199 of the Financial Regulation, proposals for an action shall be

evaluated on the basis of the quality and expected results and cost-effectiveness of the

proposed action. Applications will also be assessed with regard to their impact on the

implementation of the OAPs concerned, European added value and involvement of Europol.

Ex-post publicity for award of grants (in particular their publication in accordance with Article

189 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046) and the financial verification of the payment

requests, including the required supporting documentation, shall take into account the

confidentiality and security of the operational and classified information.

Indicative timetable and indicative amount of the call for proposals

Date

Publication: Q4 2025

Award of grants: Q1 2026

Implementing period: April 2026

–

March 2028

Amount

EUR TBC, following strategic guidance

received from COSI

Maximum possible rate of co-financing of the total eligible costs

95%

Ad-hoc low-value grants invitation in support of operational activities as laid

down in the Operational Action Plans implementing the EMPACT Priorities.

Legal basis

Article 4 and Article 61(3) of the REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE

COUNCIL on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and

replacing and repealing Council Decisions 2009/371/JHA, 2009/934/JHA, 2009/935/JHA,

2009/936/JHA and 2009/968/JHA.

Council conclusions on setting the EU’s Priorities for the

fight against organised and serious

international crime between 2026 and 2029,

once adopted.

Budget line

3920 EMPACT Grants

Priorities of the years, objectives pursued and expected results

Enhancing the fight against serious and organised international crime within the new EMPACT

Cycle 2026-2029.

These grants are focussed on supporting Member States’ cross-border

operations and investigations as well as joint investigation teams as per Europol’s tasks under

Article 4(1)(h) of the Europol Regulation. Applications from eligible applicants can be submitted

throughout the period indicated below rather than on any fixed deadline(s).

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The objective of the low-value grants is to provide support tailored to operational activities

integrated in the Operational Action Plans (OAPs) adopted by the Council. They target activities

that are developed on an ad-hoc basis rather than as a result of a long-term planning, due to

their investigative nature or other quickly changing aspects of crime phenomena and crime-

countering measures. EMPACT 2026-2029 addresses the following crime areas:

To be added

once the Council conclusions are in place.

It is expected that the support will provide for effective cooperation between Member States

law enforcement agencies, EU Institutions, EU Agencies and relevant third parties while

delivering coherent operational actions targeting the most pressing criminal threats facing the

EU. The funded measures should achieve concrete, quantifiable / measurable operational

results. This scheme shall take due consideration of the existence of a separate grant scheme

supporting actions against euro-counterfeiting.

Description of the activities to be funded through low-value grants

Transnational short-term operational and/or investigative activities within the EMPACT

Priorities, with a budget not exceeding EUR 60,000 (in line with the threshold defined in the EU

Financial Regulation), aiming to enhance operational cross-border cooperation, establish joint

investigations, joint operations or joint action days.

Grants awarded under this Article have a maximum duration of 9 months with the possibility of

an extension at Europol’s discretion for an additional period of 3 months, if operationally

justified. The overall grant duration shall not exceed 12 months.

Europol may award using simplified costs or unit costs options, provided that a decision has

been adopted by the Responsible Authorising Officer.

In addition, where duly justified for operational purposes, financial support may cover the full

investment costs of equipment and infrastructure, subject to the following conditions:

- the equipment is required to ensure cross border cooperation and absence of tools would

jeopardise the international investigation involving more than one Member State;

- renting or leasing the equipment would not be possible as it could jeopardise the operation;

- applicants provide assurance that the equipment will be fully dedicated to the action.

Essential eligibility, selection and award criteria

Eligibility criteria:

I. In order to be eligible the Applicant must be a public body established in an EU Member state

participating in the OAP in question (i.e. the particular EMPACT crime priority) and in the law-

enforcement cooperation under the Europol Regulation.

No differentiation is made in Europol’s constituent act between different Member States.

However, the opt-in structure used for JHA under the TFEU creates a varying degree of

participation of Member States. Europol pays due regard to the status of EU Member States

with regard to the Europol Regulation and/or Justice and Home Affairs matters as regards

eligibility to be a (lead) Applicant.

II. The Co-Applicants must be:

• An entity explicitly mentioned as a participant in the OAP;

• If the entity is not

explicitly mentioned in the OAP, any of the following entities may be Co-

Applicants, provided their participation is justified by the nature of the action:

- A public body established in an EU Member State or in a third country OR

- A profit or non-profit-oriented organisation established in an EU Member State or in a

third country, OR

- An International Organisation.

As regards co-applicants even non-opting-in Member States could be eligible as co-applicants

on the same basis as third countries and third parties provided that their participation is justified

by the nature of the action. Their meaningful participation has however to be possible having

due regard to Europol’s legal obligations on exchange of information with third countries.

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III. Applications must involve at least two (2) public bodies established in two (2) different EU

Member States.

IV. The proposed activities must be mentioned in the respective OAPs as approved by COSI

Council decisions.

V. The requested grant cannot be higher than 60,000 EUR, or in line with the current threshold

for low-value grants established by the EU Financial Regulation.

Selection criteria:

In accordance with Article 198 of the Financial Regulation, proposals for action shall be

evaluated on the basis of the following selection criteria:

- Financial capacity - Applicants and co-applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of

funding to maintain their activity throughout the period during which the activity is being carried

out and to participate in its funding.

- Operational capacity - Applicants and co-applicants must have the professional resources,

competences and qualifications required to complete the proposed action.

- The verification of the financial and operational capacity shall not apply to public bodies and

international organisations in accordance with Article 198(5) & (6) of the Financial Regulation.

To ensure that the operational needs are met, a pool of evaluators shall be duly appointed by

the responsible authorising officer. In each evaluation at least 2 evaluators from that list (with

complementary expertise in law enforcement and finance) shall perform the evaluation (without

a separate ad hoc appointment).

To allow for fast processing, applicants must use the templates to apply and reply within

maximum 24 hours to any questions raised during evaluation.