Europol-Poland: New Co-operative Relationships Based on the 2001 Bilateral Treaty

On the eve of the accession by Poland and other candidate countries to the European Union and in the face of the still increasing threat posed by organized and other criminal groups, the need for Poland to maintain close cooperative relationships has grown considerably. Although Polish law enforcement authorities have engaged in various forms of informal cooperation with their Western European counterparts in recent years, a more formal (?official?) arrangement was considered necessary to make these efforts more efficient (and in some cases legitimate). Such an arrangement is the Task Force on Organized Crime in the Baltic Sea Region, in which Polish authorities, most notably the Office of the Prosecutor General, have actively participated from its inception. However, it has became obvious that a broader treaty framework has to be created for law enforcement agencies particularly the police. The next step towards establishing working relationship between Europol and Polish authorities was the Pre-Accession Pact for the Fight against Organized Crime, which was signed on May 28, 1998, in Brussels by the Ministers of Justice and Ministers of Home Affairs of the member states of the European Union and the candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe as well as Cyprus. Principle 8 of this treaty underlines the importance of Europol as a channel for transferring information, delivering analytical expertise, and rendering operational support, including the countries of this region.