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TEXT 16. SPECIALISED EU AGENCIES
A number of specialised and decentralised EU agencies have been established to support the EU Member States and their citizens. These agencies are an answer to a desire for geographical devolution and the need to cope with new tasks of a legal, technical and/or scientific nature. The EU’s agencies are grouped into 5 different categories:
1. Community agencies: are bodies governed by European public law; they are distinct from the Community Institutions (Council, Parliament, Commission, etc.) and have their own legal personality. They are set up by an act of secondary legislation in order to accomplish a very specific technical, scientific or managerial task.
At present, these agencies are:
· Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (at planning stage) (ACER)
· Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA)
· Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO)
· European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)
· European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (FRONTEX)
· European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
· European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
· European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop)
· European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
· European Environment Agency (EEA)
· European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
· European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND)
· European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
· European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
· European Medicines Agency (EMEA)
· European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)
· European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA)
· European Railway Agency – promoting safe and compatible rail systems (ERA)
· European Training Foundation (ETF)
· European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
· Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM)
· The European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA)
· Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT)
2. Common Security and Defence Policy agencies have been set up to carry out very specific technical, scientific and management tasks within the framework of European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy.
At present, these agencies are:
· European Defence Agency (EDA)
· European Union Institute for Security Studies (ISS)
· European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC)
3. Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters agencies have been set up to help the EU Member States co-operate in the fight against organised international crime.
At present, these agencies are:
· European Police College (CEPOL): brings together senior police officers across Europe with the aim to encourage cross-border cooperation in the fight against crime, maintenance of public security and law and order.
Established as an agency of the European Union (EU) in 2005, CEPOL Secretariat is based at Bramshill in the United Kingdom, approximately 70km from central London. CEPOL organises between 80-100 courses, seminars and conferences per year. The implementation of the activities takes place at the National Police Training colleges of the Member States and the activities cover a wide-range of topics. CEPOL has an annual budget of about 7.5 million euro (2007).
The CEPOL Secretariat is managed by Director Ulf Goransson, who has been appointed for a four-year period, ending February 2011. The Director is accountable to the CEPOL Governing Board which is made up of representatives from the EU Member States, usually the Directors from the national training institutes. The Chair of the Governing Board is a representative of the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Governing Board normally meets four times a year and has established four committees:
ü Annual Programme Committee (APC)
ü Budget and Administration Committee (BAC)
ü Strategy Committee (SC)
ü Training and Research Committee (TRC)
Committees are supported by Working Groups, Project Groups and Sub-groups.
CEPOL Secretariat has about 25 staff members who carry out the day-to-day work, within two units: the Programme Unit and the Administration Unit.
The acronym CEPOL is French and stands for Collège européen de police - European Police College in English.
· European Police Office (EUROPOL): was set up in 1992 to handle Europe-wide criminal intelligence. It is based in The Hague of the Netherlands, and its staff includes representatives of the national law enforcement agencies (police, customs, immigration services, etc.).
Europol's aim is to help the EU member states co-operate more closely and effectively in preventing and combating organised international crime, in particular:
ü drug trafficking;
ü immigration networks;
ü vehicle trafficking;
ü trafficking in human beings including child pornography;
ü forgery of money and other means of payment;
ü trafficking in radioactive and nuclear substances;
ü terrorism.
Europol supports member states by:
Ø facilitating the exchange of information between Europol and Europol Liaison Officers (ELOs). These ELOs are seconded to Europol by the Member States as representatives of their national law enforcement agencies, thus they are not under the command of Europol and its Director. Furthermore, they act in accordance to their national law;
Ø providing operational analysis and supporting Member States’ operations;
Ø providing expertise and technical support for investigations and operations carried out within the EU, under the supervision and the legal responsibility of the Member States;
Ø generating strategic reports (e.g. threat assessments) and crime analysis on the basis of information and intelligence supplied by Member States or gathered from other sources.
One of Europol's additional duties is to establish and maintain a computerised system to allow the input, access and analysis of relevant data. A Joint Supervisory Body, comprising two data protection experts from each EU country, ensures the proper use of all personal data held by Europol.
Europol is accountable to the Justice and Home Affairs Council, i.e. the justice and home affairs ministers of all the EU countries.
· The European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (EUROJUST): a European Union body established in 2002 to stimulate and improve the co-ordination of investigations and prosecutions among the competent judicial authorities of the European Union Member States when they deal with serious cross-border and organised crime.
In the context of investigations and prosecutions concerning two or more Member States, Eurojust's goal is to stimulate and improve the co-ordination between the national authorities, taking into account any request emanating from a competent authority of a Member State and any information provided by any body competent by virtue of provisions adopted within the framework of the Treaties (European Judicial Network, Europol, and OLAF).
Another of Eurojust's objectives is to improve co-operation between the competent authorities, in particular by facilitating the execution of international mutual legal assistance and the implementation of European Arrest Warrants.
Eurojust also supports the competent authorities in order to improve the effectiveness of investigations and prosecutions. It can assist investigations and prosecutions between a Member State and a non-Member State or a Member State and the Commission regarding criminal offences affecting the European Community's financial interests.
Eurojust enhances the efficiency of the national investigating and prosecuting authorities when dealing with serious cross-border and organised crime, e.g. terrorism, trafficking in human beings, drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering, in order to bring criminals quickly and effectively to justice. It fulfils its tasks through its National Members or as a College.
Eurojust has the power to ask the competent national authorities to:
ü undertake an investigation or prosecution of specific acts;
ü accept that one of them may be in a better position to undertake an investigation or to prosecute specific acts;
ü co-ordinate between the competent authorities;
ü set up a joint investigation team;
ü provide any information necessary to carry out its tasks.
Eurojust ensures the information exchange between the competent authorities and assists them in providing the best possible co-ordination and co-operation. Eurojust also co-operates with the European Judicial Network, Europol, and OLAF. Eurojust offers logistical support and may organise and facilitate co-ordination meetings between the judicial authorities and police authorities of the different states to help resolve legal issues and practical problems.
Eurojust is composed of 27 National Members, one from each EU Member State. National Members are seconded in accordance with their respective legal systems and hold permanent seats in The Hague. The National Members are senior, experienced prosecutors, judges, or police officers of equivalent competence. Some National Members are supported by Deputies, Assistants or Seconded National Experts.
In February 2010, the College elected Aled Williams, National Member for the United Kingdom, as its President. The National Members for Belgium and Estonia, Michèle Coninsx and Raivo Sepp, serve as its Vice-Presidents.
The National Members and the College are supported by an administration led by the Administrative Director. The administration is composed of units and services: Budget & Finance, College Secretariat, Data Protection Officer, Human Resources, Information Management, Legal Service, Press & PR, and Security, Facility Management, General Services & Events.
The Secretariat of the European Judicial Network (EJN) is situated within the Eurojust administration, functioning as a separate and autonomous unit.
Eurojust was established by Council Decision of 28 February 2002 setting up Eurojust with a view to reinforcing the fight against serious crime.
4. Executive agencies: organizations established in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 (OJ L 11, 16.1.2003) with a view to being entrusted with certain tasks relating to the management of one or more Community programmes. These agencies are set up for a fixed period. Their location has to be at the seat of the European Commission (Brussels or Luxembourg).
At present, these agencies are:
· Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)
· European Research Council Executive Agency (ERC Executive Agency)
· Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI)
· Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC)
· Research Executive Agency (REA)
· Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T EA)
5. EURATOM Agencies and bodies are created to support the aims of the European Atomic Energy Community Treaty (EURATOM). The purpose of the Treaty is to coordinate the Member States' research programmes for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, to provide knowledge, infrastructure and funding of nuclear energy and to ensure sufficiency and security of atomic energy supply.
At present, these agencies are:
· EURATOM Supply Agency (ESA);
· European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy (Fusion for Energy).