Europol gets power to exchange information with companies

On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted the new Europol Regulation, which will come into effect from 1 May 2017. The legislation expands the powers of the European investigative service, including in the field of information exchange with companies.

For example, under the new rules, Europol can in certain cases approach Facebook to have a message removed that is seen as terrorist propaganda, the European Parliament reports in a press release. This power already emerged in November when a draft of the regulation became available online. Then they were also asked for the possibility to provide, for example, an IP address to Facebook to find out which accounts are connected to it. It is unclear whether this authority made it into the final text.

The new rules also include an obligation for Member States to comply with Europol’s requests for information. In order to reinforce this obligation, it is the intention that the organization reports annually on the cooperation of the member states. To pay attention to privacy, supervision is exercised by the European Parliament and by a body composed of members of national parliaments and their European counterparts.

There will also be a complaints procedure for European citizens. The regulation also makes it easier for Europol to set up specialized units to respond quickly to terrorist threats.