EUROPOL AND COUNTER TERRORISM INTELLIGENCE SHARING

As the European Union's law enforcement agency, the European Police Office (Europol) supports its Member States in preventing and fighting against all forms of serious international crime and terrorism, through the exchange and analysis of criminal intelligence. At present, terrorism continues to remain a top priority for Europol and the European Union; Europol assists Member States in conducting investigations in this field by providing analysis and analytical products such as reports and threat assessments; information exchange and access to Europol's databases and expert platforms; expertise ensured by Europol's mobile office; other relevant products and services including the "First Response Network", the "European Explosive Ordnance Disposal Network", the "EU Bomb Data System" and other. This paper's purpose is to argue two main points. First, a deep fracture can be observed between the reiterated intentions to cooperate and the outcomes of this endeavour. Second, this gap was generated to a large extent by the national security and intelligence service's failure to share information and intelligence due to various barriers, including bureaucracy-related ones which can provide a valuable insight into Europol's case. In order to support these assumptions, this study focuses on the European counter terrorism intelligence cooperation within Europol.