Entry into Force of the Europol Convention and Inauguration of Europol Headquarters

On October 1, 1998, the Europol Convention, which was signed in 1995, came into effect. On October 1, Europol’s headquarters in The Hague was inaugurated. Until then, the European Drugs Unit (EDU), established in 1993, had only carried out limited activities as a precursor to Europol. Europol is a criminal investigation service aimed at facilitating the exchange of information between the police forces of European Union member states and conducting crime analyses. Europol’s objective is to prevent and combat terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, and other serious forms of international crime when there are concrete indications that an organized criminal structure is involved and two or more member states are affected.
On May 28, the Council decided that Europol’s competence should be extended to include activities for combating terrorism from January 1, 1999. Member states will transmit to Europol information about persons who have committed or are preparing to commit criminal offenses and the means they used or their participation in organized networks. The information will be collected in a central database.