EUROPEAN FBI DRAWS STEP CLOSER

WHILE Judges in Italy, Spain, Belgium and France pursue investigations
into institutionalised corruption, often controversially, a
Europe-wide police system has finally reached the brink of full operation.

After four and a half years Kurt Schlogel, the Austrian interior
minister, last week officially inaugurated the Europol convention to
launch formally the embryonic European police organisation which has
been stuttering along in The Hague waiting for its official charter to
be agreed. Belgium was the final nation of the 15 European Union
member states to ratify the agreement.

Now Europol will be able to move into full operation under its
director, Jurgen Storbeck, a former chief of the German federal
criminal police, the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), with a former Belgian
gendarme colonel as his deputy head. The organisation now employs 250
officers, linking with 45 liaison officers from the l5countries. Its
avowed aim is to combat organised crime in Europe.

"At last we have a legal basis on which to operate," said Storbeck,
who has maintained Europol from a base in a converted monastery in
The Hague since the unit's inception.

The nascent Europol was set up in March 1995, initially as the Europol
drugs unit (EDU) with a limited brief and no executive powers. Member
states were asked to appoint liaison officers "for free exchange and
analysis of information and intelligence" on illicit drug
trafficking.

Its remit was later extended to take in trafficking in radioactive and
nuclear substances, clandestine immigration networks. vehicle
trafficking, international criminal organisations and money-laundering
activities. The Europol convention was published in June1996. But
Storbeck's operations were hampered by uncertainty over the role of
the European Court of Justice in interpreting the convention. They
were also hindered by confusion over Europol's relationship with
Interpol, the long-standing worldwide police liaison organisation
based in Lyon in central France, which feared the new agency would
duplicate its efforts. Co-operation between the two organisations has
now been agreed after lengthy negotiations.

A poll recently conducted throughout the EU showed that the majority
of citizens agree that a European police organisation would be a
valuable aid in the battle against organised crime, drug trafficking
and terrorism. Many investigating magistrates and judges themselves
believe that Europe-wide liaison is necessary. A group of senior law
officials launched a campaign two years ago for greater co-operation.
"Criminal organisations do not recognise any borders so in order to be
effective the organisation of justice must follow suit, otherwise we
are operating with our hands tied," said one Italian judge.

But EU member states, worried about sovereignty and about differences
in legal systems, continue to disagree on how much integration there
should be. National police forces have been reluctant to divulge
sensitive information on criminal activities because of fears on
security and because of national jealousies.

"We simply assist the national police forces," stresses Storbeck.
"They still take the credit for the arrests they make. Now that this
is understood they have been making more use of our facilities."
French and German police and intelligence services have in the past
been at loggerheads over the sharing of information. Others such as
the Spaniards insisted that Europol should extend its operations to
deal with terrorism.

Last July, two months before the ceasefire declared by ETA, the
violent Basque separatist group, Ricardo Marti the Spanish secretary

of state for security, made a special trip to The Hague and announced
the appointment of four liaison officers.

The inclusion of terrorism in Europol's remit is a sensitive issue. An
agreed definition of organisations such as the Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA) presents inevitable problems.

The incursion of criminal gangs from outside the EU, notably the
Russian mafia and the Chinese triads, has also caused concern. The
Schengen open-borders agreement now operated by 12 EU member states -
the exceptions are Britain, Ireland and Denmark - has made it easier
for criminal organisations to operate on a continental scale.

The recent concern over child abuse and the existence of international
paedophile rings revealed by the Dutroux case in Belgium has helped
strengthen the case for a federally organised police force.

But there is still a long way to go before a European equivalent of
the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) can be
countenanced.

"A European FBI is a fine dream and I would not rule it out," said
Storbeck last week. "But that is not my aim."

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady