EU Parliament approves new powers for Europol to fight terrorism

The European Union (EU) Parliament approved a new rule on Wednesday allowing EU Police and Europol to soon be able to step up efforts in fighting criminal offenses and respond faster to threats.

The draft rules will strengthen Europol’s mandate to ensure that it is fully equipped to counter the rise in cross-border crimes and terrorist threats. Backers of the rule say that it will make it easier for agents to set up specialized unites to respond immediately to emerging threats. The new powers, however, come with strong data protection safeguards and democratic oversight tools to prevent potential overreach.

“The new rules for Europol are a powerful legislative tool that will help to enhance security for European citizens,” Agustín Díaz de Mera, lead member of the European Parliament, said.

One facet of the rule aims to remove online terrorist propaganda in a faster manner than currently available. Specifically, Europol’s Internet Referral Unit could contact social network providers and directly ask for pages to be taken down.

Additionally, the rule calls for greater information sharing between agencies. Europol will now report annually to the European Parliament, the Council, Commission and national parliaments on information provided by individual member states.

While the new rules expand law enforcement powers, they also ensure that proper safeguards are put in place to protect civil liberties, specifically calling for the European Data Protection Supervisor to monitor Europol’s work and investigate complaints made by citizens under EU law.