The European Union will expand Europol’s funding, staffing, and authority to intensify efforts against human trafficking networks, the Commission confirmed.
The European Union's executive branch announced that the European Parliament and negotiators from EU member states had agreed to enlarge Europol's Anti-Smuggling Centre (EMSC).
Liaison officers from the EU border agency Frontex and the judiciary agency Eurojust will now also be part of the center.
The deal will give Europol 50 more employees and €50 million ($58 million) in additional funds, including €20 million for improved biometric data processing, including fingerprint and facial image processing. Additionally, member states will have to provide Europol and other nations with greater information.
At the moment, Europol has 1,400 employees. The Hague-based organization helps member nations fight terrorism, cybercrime, and worldwide organized crime.
EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner praised the deal, saying:
"This regulation is part of our new system to manage migration. We must be the ones to decide who comes to the EU, not migrant smugglers."
It was first proposed by the European Commission in November 2023 to improve Europol. The European Parliament and the EU Council's member states still need to formally approve the deal.
How will the new Europol powers change investigations into human trafficking?
Europol will be empowered to establish "operational task forces" together with national police to conduct joint investigations into trafficking networks in a coordinated way.
It will be given a mandate to undertake "non-coercive investigative measures" such as intelligence gathering, monitoring, data analysis, and processing biometric data in support of trafficking investigations.
There will be obligations placed on Member States to broaden the obligation to share all relevant information with Europol’s databases, transferring some responsibility for decision-making on data sharing from Member States to Europol.
Expanded digital surveillance capabilities will allow Europol to process a greater volume of data pertaining to individuals suspected to be involved in trafficking and smuggling networks.