Council Decision 2005/…/JHA of amending Decision 2003/170/JHA on the common use of liaison officers posted abroad by the law enforcement agencies of the Member States
Date: 2005-08-02
Institutions: United Kingdom
Subjects: EU police cooperation, Europol, Gibraltar, exchange of information, fight against crime, international organisation, servant (EU), third country

2.8.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 188/19

II

(Acts adopted under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union)

COUNCIL DECISION 2005/…/JHA

of

amending Decision 2003/170/JHA on the common use of liaison officers posted abroad by the law
enforcement agencies of the Member States

(2005/C 188/12)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in par-
ticular Article 30(1)(a), (b) and (c), Article 30(2)(c) and Article
34(2)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the initiative of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Whereas:

Following the evaluation of the implementation of Council
Decision 2003/170/JHA (3), certain provisions of that Decision
should be amended to take account of current practice relating
to the use by the Member States of Europol
liaison officers
posted abroad in order to channel information in accordance
with the Europol Convention (4), and relating to the initiative
for holding liaison officers meetings,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

‘In this Decision, “Europol liaison officer” means a Europol
employee, posted abroad to one or more third countries or
to international organisations to support and coordinate the
cooperation with the authorities in those countries or orga-
nisations and Europol by facilitating the exchange of infor-
mation between them.’;

2. the following subparagraph shall be added to Article 1(2):

‘This Decision is without prejudice to Europol liaison offi-
cers' tasks within the framework of the Europol Convention,
its implementing arrangements, and cooperation agreements
concluded between Europol and the third country or inter-
national organisation concerned.’;

3. the following sentence shall be added to Article 4(1):

‘Such meetings may also be held at the initiative of any
other Member State and especially of those Member States
acting as a 'lead nation' for the EU cooperation in a particu-
lar country or region.’;

Amendment of Council Decision 2003/170/JHA

4. the following paragraphs shall be added to Article 8:

Council Decision 2003/170/JHA is hereby amended as follows:

1. the following subparagraph shall be added to Article 1(1):

(1) OJ …
(2) OJ …
(3) OJ L 67, 12.3.2003, p. 27.
(4) OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 1.

In accordance with national

‘3.
law and the Europol
Convention, Member States may make a request to Europol
to use Europol liaison officers seconded to third countries
or international organisations, with a view to the exchange
of relevant
information. Requests shall be addressed to
Europol via the Member States' national units in accordance
with the Europol Convention.

C 188/20

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

2.8.2005

4.
Europol shall ensure that its liaison officers seconded
to third countries and international organisations provide it
with information relating to serious threats to Member
States of criminal offences for which Europol is competent
under the Europol Convention. Such information shall be
communicated to the competent authorities of the Member
States concerned via the national units in accordance with
the Europol Convention.’.

Article 2

Application to Gibraltar

This Decision shall apply to Gibraltar.

Article 3

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force 14 days after its publication
in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at …

For the Council

The President

…