REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL On the assessment of the Agreement on Operational and Strategic Cooperation between the Kingdom of Denmark and the European Police Office
Date: 2021-02-23
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: Denmark, Europol, cooperation agreement (EU), crime, data protection, exchange of information, fight against crime, personal data, police cooperation, terrorism

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 23.2.2021  COM(2021) 77 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL On the assessment of the Agreement on Operational and Strategic Cooperation between the Kingdom of Denmark and the European Police Office {SWD(2021) 22 final}  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 

THE COUNCIL 

On the assessment of the Agreement on Operational and Strategic Cooperation between 
the Kingdom of Denmark and the European Police Office 

Introduction  

The Agreement on Operational and Strategic Cooperation between the Kingdom of Denmark 
and the European Police Office (hereafter “the Agreement”)1 establishes the legal framework 
for  Denmark’s  cooperation  with  Europol.  Under  Article  25  of  the  Agreement,  the 
Commission  is  invited  to  assess  the  provisions  of  this  Agreement,  and  in  particular  the 
operational  effectiveness  of  the  Agreement  and  Denmark’s  compliance  with  the  data 
protection provisions thereof. 

Until  1  May  2017,  Denmark  participated  fully  in  the  Council  Decision  establishing  the 
European Police Office (Europol)2. Under Protocol (No 22) on the position of Denmark3, it 
has an opt-out of all EU Justice and Home Affairs legislation adopted after the Lisbon Treaty 
entered into force on 1 December 20094. Regulation (EU) 2016/794 on the European Union 
Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol)5 adopted in 2016 replaces the Council 
Decision.  It  became  fully  applicable  on  1  May  2017.  Because  of  the  opt-out  and  due  to  a 
negative result of a national referendum held on 3 December 2015 on the question whether 
Denmark’s  opt-out  on  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  matters  should  be  changed,  Denmark  is 
unable to participate in the Regulation.  

Following  the  referendum  in  Denmark  on  3  December  2015,  the  President  of  the 
Commission,  the  President  of  the  European  Council  and  the  Prime  Minister  of  Denmark 
issued  a  Declaration6  on  15  December  2016,  stating  their  agreement  “on  the  need  for 
operational  arrangements,  minimising  the  negative  impact  of  Denmark’s  departure  from 
Europol  on  1  May  2017,  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  Denmark  and  the  rest  of  the  European 
Union  in  the  combatting  of  cross  border  serious  and  organised  crime  and  international 
terrorism.  Such  arrangements  must  be  Denmark  specific,  and  not  in  any  way  equal  full 
membership  of  Europol,  i.e.  provide  access  to  Europol’s  data  repositories,  or  for  full 
participation in Europol’s operational work and database, or give decision-making rights in 

1  https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/agreement-operational-and-strategic-cooperation-

between-kingdom-of-denmark-and-europol. 

2   Council Decision (2009/371/JHA) of 6 April 2009 establishing the European Police  Office (Europol), OJ L 

121, 15.5.2009, p. 37. 

3   OJ C 326, 26.10.2012, p. 299. 
4   Treaty  of  Lisbon  amending  the  Treaty  on  European  Union  and  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European 
Community, OJ C 306, 17.12.2007, p. 1. So far Denmark has not exercised the option provided for in Part 
IV of Protocol (No 22) which would allow it to participate fully in the Europol Regulation. 

5   Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the European 
Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and replacing and repealing Council Decisions 
2009/371/JHA,  2009/934/JHA,  2009/935/JHA,  2009/936/JHA  and  2009/968/JHA,  OJ  L  135,  24.5.2016, 
p. 53. 

6   Declaration  by  the  President  of  the  European  Commission,  Jean-Claude  Juncker,  the  President  of  the 
European Council, Donald Tusk and the Prime Minister of Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Brussels, 15 
December 2016, Commission press release IP/16/4398. 

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the governing bodies of Europol. However, it should ensure a sufficient level of operational 
cooperation including exchange of relevant data, subject to adequate safeguards”. 

The  Agreement  establishes  the  legal  framework  for  Denmark’s  cooperation  with  Europol 
called upon in the Declaration of 15 December 2016. It entered into force on 30 April 2017, 
thus  avoiding  a  gap  as  a  result  of  the  change  on  1  May  2017  of  Denmark’s  status  from  a 
Member State to a third country in its  relation with Europol. On 27 April 2017, the Danish 
Parliament  (Folketing)  adopted  Law  No  411  on  the  European  Union  Agency  for  Law 
Enforcement  Cooperation  (Europol)  allowing  the  Danish  Government  to  conclude  the 
Agreement. The European Parliament  adopted a resolution  on 27 April 2017.7 The Council 
gave Europol its authorisation to agree to the Agreement on 28 April 2017.8  

The recitals to the Agreement make clear that it is intended to “minimise the negative effects 
of  the  Danish  departure  from  Europol”  by  establishing  cooperation  at  “a  level  at  least 
equivalent”  to  that  of  other  third  countries  that  have  concluded  similar  agreements  with 
Europol (recital 3). 

A particular feature of the Agreement is Denmark’s specific position as an EU and Schengen   
Member State. Denmark’s specific position as an EU Member State is reflected in recital 4 of 
the  Agreement.  Recital  5  states  that  Denmark  is  part  of  the  Schengen  area  and  has 
implemented  fully  in  its  national  law  the  Schengen  acquis.  Furthermore,  recital  6  outlines 
that Denmark is part of the so-called Nordic passport union together with other Nordic States, 
two  of  which  are  EU  Member  States  and  two  of  which  are  associated  with  the 
implementation of the Schengen acquis and its further development.  

Preparation process for the assessment and the Report 

  The  Commission  sent  a  questionnaire  to  the  Danish  Ministry  of  Justice  and  the  Danish 
Data  Protection  Agency.  The  Danish  Ministry  of  Justice,  together  with  the  Danish 
National  Police,  provided  written  draft  replies  to  the  questionnaire.  The  Danish  Data 
Protection  Agency  thanked  the  Commission  for  having  been  given  the  opportunity  to 
provide  feedback  to  the  questionnaire  and  informed  the  Commission  that  it  had  not 
looked  into  the  way  in  which  the  Agreement  had  been  implemented  by  the  Danish 
National Police. It therefore took the view that at this point the Danish Ministry of Justice 
and Danish National Police were better placed to answer it.  

  The Commission had exchanges with representatives from the Danish Ministry of Justice, 
the  Danish  National  Police  including  its  Data  Protection  Officer,  the  Danish  Data 
Protection  Agency,  as  well  as  with  representatives  from  Europol,  responsible  for  the 
application  of  the  Agreement,  including  analysts  who  use  and  have  access  to  the 
information  exchanged  under  the  Agreement,  and  from  the  European  Data  Protection 
Supervisor who oversees the processing of personal data at Europol. 

7   European  Parliament  legislative  resolution  of  27  April  2017  on  the  draft  Council  implementing  decision 
approving  the  conclusion  by  the  European  Police  Office  (Europol)  of  the  Agreement  on  Operational  and 
Strategic  Cooperation  between  the  Kingdom  of  Denmark  and  Europol  (07281/2017  –  C8-0120/2017  – 
2017/0803(CNS)), P8_TA(2017)0136.  

8   7281/1/17 REV 1 of 28 April 2018. 

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  The Danish Ministry of Justice provided access to reports from the Ministry to the Danish 
Parliament  (Folketing)  on  the  status  of  the  situation  of  the  Danish  Police  in  relation  to 
Europol (covering the period of 1 May 2017 to December 2019). 

  The  findings  of  the  Commission  were  laid  down  in  the  accompanying  Staff  Working 
Document  which  was  also  shared  with  the  Danish  Ministry  of  Justice  and  Europol, 
providing them with the opportunity to comment on inaccuracies and identify information 
which cannot be disclosed to public audiences.  

Conclusions  

The  Agreement  states  in  Article  25  that  the  assessment  should  in  particular  concern  its 
operational  effectiveness  as  well  as  Denmark’s  compliance  with  the  data  protection 
provisions thereof.  

The assessment showed that the Agreement, which gives Denmark a special status, provides 
for  a  cooperation  between  Denmark  and  Europol  that  has  met  the  overall  objective  of 
establishing  cooperative  relations  between  Denmark  and  Europol  in  the  fight  against 
terrorism  and  serious  cross-border  crime  and  has  minimised  the  negative  effects  of  the 
Danish departure from Europol as of 1 May 2017. 

This is in particularly due to the enhanced service that Denmark receives through dedicated 
Danish  speaking  seconded  national  experts  for  treating,  under  the  authority  of  Europol, 
Danish  requests to  input, retrieve and cross-check data on a 24/7 basis.  Both  Denmark  and 
Europol  explicitly  recognised  that  the  secondment  of  Danish  speaking  national  experts  to 
Europol  has  proven  to  be  a  successful  instrument  in  this  respect.  At  the  same  time  both 
parties also recognised that due to the limitations imposed by Article 10 (6) of the Agreement 
as regards the tasks of the Danish  speaking seconded national experts in  The Hague and in 
Denmark, there is room to improve the effectiveness of the cooperation. 

The Agreement requires that Denmark applies the data protection safeguards set out in the 
Agreement,  as  well  as  the  rules  implementing  the  EU  Law  Enforcement  Directive9.  The 
Danish  Law  Enforcement  Act  is  the  instrument  that  intends  to  transpose  the  EU  Law 
Enforcement Directive. It entered into force on 30 April 2017. The Danish National Police 
has  designated  a  data  protection  officer  for  the  processing  of  personal  data  by  the  Danish 
police within the scope of the Act. The Data Protection Officer has, inter alia, been entrusted 
with the task of monitoring compliance with the EU Law Enforcement Directive. 

During  the  period  under  assessment,  Denmark  and  Europol  addressed  a  couple  of  data 
protection  related  issues.  They  related  to  information  from  Denmark  which  was  corrected 
immediately after Denmark had received notifications from Europol on the matter.  

The  Danish  National  Police,  supported  by  its  Data  Protection  Officer,  takes  the  view  that 
Denmark has effectively implemented, and in practice applied, both the requirements of the 

9   Directive (EU 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of 
natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of 
the  prevention,  investigation,  detection  or  prosecution  of  criminal  offences  or  the  execution  of  criminal 
penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision, OJ L 119 of 
4.5.2016, p. 89.     

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Law Enforcement Directive and the Agreement with regard to the protection of personal data 
received under the Agreement. 

The Commission therefore considers that the Agreement has been effective in  providing for 
operational arrangements, thus minimising the negative impact of Denmark’s departure from 
Europol  on  1  May  2017,  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  Denmark  and  the  rest  of  the  European 
Union  in  the  combatting  of  cross  border  serious  and  organised  crime  and  international 
terrorism. 

The Commission  also  considers that the data protections provisions of the Agreement have 
been applied well. 

The Commission has not found any limitations in the Agreement which hampers its effective 
implementation. 

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