How Europol Became a Center Point for the F.B.I.
Over the past decade, the EU’s police cooperation agency, Europol, has established itself as a reliable and effective partner for U.S. law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.).
Much of this was thanks to the agency’s Executive Director, Rob Wainwright. During his 9-year term that is now set to end this upcoming Tuesday, May 1st, the former MI5 officer transformed the institution and considerably developed its cooperation with its American counterparts.
In an interview with Bloomberg and at a farewell speech at the George Washington University on April 12, Wainwright said that when he first met Robert Mueller (then Director of the F.B.I.) a decade ago, Mueller was skeptical of Europol, which was still a young player in the security environment at that time, having been created in 1998. With few credentials and limited means, Europol had to gain trust from international partners and prove its added value.
And it did. In fact, Europol has now become a “center point” for the F.B.I., as Wainwright called it in his speech at GWU, stating that the EU and the U.S. have successfully established a strong “transatlantic security cooperation framework,” with Europol having changed “the scale and magnitude of its activities” due to “the changing dynamics in the threat picture” and the “escalating nature of threats” over the past few years. Europol has also shown that it can safely collect and store intelligence, with no data breach experienced so far. As Wainwright explained, it now has “fully grown-up operational arrangements with the U.S. law enforcement.”
In an interview with Mr. Wainwright that aired on April 13, 2018, CNN’s Richard Quest echoed this sentiment, saying that Europol “has become a leading force in fighting cybercrime, and is a pioneer in data technology to counter the terrorist threat and fight money laundering across the world.”
Examples of successful operations involving both the F.B.I. and Europol include:
- The dismantling of two Dark Web markets (i.e. illicit trade platforms and the online sale of drugs, weapons and other illegal goods and services) announced on July 20, 2017 at the Department of Justice by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, then acting director of the F.B.I Andrew McCabe and Rob Wainwright (watch here and read F.B.I.’s statement here).
- A large crack down on child pornographic networks.
- Joint work to investigate the WannaCry ransomware.
- Intelligence sharing on terrorist suspects and foreign fighters. Intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Europol has increased by 30% over the past year.
This operational cooperation complements frequent high-level political discussions between the EU and the U.S., primarily under the framework of the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial that convenes twice a year (read the statement following the last convening on November 17, 2017).
Increasing Capabilities to Address The Escalating Nature of Threats
Recent terrorist attacks in Europe and the use of sophisticated tools for cybercrime have been a “wake-up call” for Europeans who felt the need to fill in the “gap between international problems and national responses,” Mr. Wainwright said at GWU. Europol hence created a European Counterterrorism Centre in January 2016 and bolstered the capabilities of its European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), which was established three years prior. It also created a European Migrant Smuggling Centre in 2016 to fight against people/migrant smugglers and contribute to the EU’s response to migratory challenges. Europol also works to anticipate future threats, including “possible cyber-enabled terrorist attacks” (learn more in the TARGET USA podcast).
Mr. Wainwright claims that the agency “leverages the power of networks” and serves as an “inter-connector” between national law enforcement from Europe and partner countries like the United States. Counterterrorism entries (noted individuals or organizations suspected of terrorist activities) received by Europol have risen from 6,000 in 2016 to 500,000 today, while the agency’s staff has doubled from roughly 600 to more than 1,200 during Wainwright’s time as Executive Director. 38 U.S. liaison officers are now permanently based at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, including (among others) 9 from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 4 from the F.B.I., 4 from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and 4 from the U.S. Secret Service.
Europol after Rob Wainwright
The current Commissioner General of the Belgian Federal Police, Catherine De Bolle, has been appointed to replace Wainwright. As the new Executive Director, she will build upon the work of her predecessor, continuing to install Europol as an effective police cooperation agency, adapting to the new security challenges, and maintaining a strong partnership with U.S. law enforcement. Meanwhile, Mr. Wainwright will join the private sector and become a non-resident fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security program.
Learn more:
- Video of the event with Rob Wainwright, hosted at the George Washington University’s Elliot School by the GWU Center for Cyber and Homeland Security on April 12, 2018.
- Interview with Richard Quest aired on CNN on April 13, 2018.
- Article published by Bloomberg on April 4, 2018, on Europol under the lead of Rob Wainwright, titled “Inside the Google of Counter-Terrorism.”
- TARGET USA podcast with Rob Wainwright (by WTOP’s national security correspondent JJ Green) released on April 18, 2018.
- Video of the event at the German Marshall Fund of the United States with the European Commissioner Julian King on EU’s Security Union on October 27, 2017.
- EU Now Podcast with Manuel Navarrete, head of Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre, released by the EU Delegation to the U.S. on August 9, 2017.
