Europol (European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation)

Europol is an agency that seeks to create a safer Europe by improving cooperation between EU countries' police authorities and law enforcement services. Its mission is to help EU countries to prevent and combat international crime and terrorism. It is based in The Hague (Netherlands).

The Treaty provisions on Europol fall under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Article 88, Title V — Area of freedom, security and justice).

Europol's goals are to:

support law enforcement authorities by facilitating exchanges of information, providing criminal analyses, as well as helping and coordinating cross border operations;
become the EU's criminal information hub by identifying common information gaps and investigation priorities;
develop further as an EU centre for law enforcement expertise by pioneering new techniques, as well as facilitating knowledge sharing and quality training in specialist areas like terrorism, drugs and euro counterfeiting.