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Europol to be in the Hague

01 November 1993

At the special EC Prime Ministers Summit at the end of October it was decided that the headquarters of Europol would be in the Hague, Netherlands. Europol HQ will be at: Raamweg 47, 2596 HN, the Hague, Netherlands; this is the building which was previously occupied by the Dutch central criminal intelligence service (CRI).

The first occupants will be the European Drugs Unit (EDU), signalling the operational start to Europol. The EDU is to have a budget of BF80 million in 1994 with a staff of around 80. The Council of Interior and Justice Ministers in Brussels on 29-30 November confirmed the interim appointment of Mr Storbeck (an official from the German Justice Ministry) as the Coordinator of the European Drugs Unit (EDU) and Colonel Bruggeman (currently a paramilitary police commander in Belgium) as Deputy Coordinator. In April 1994 applications will be invited for the permanent posts of those to head Europol.

The full Convention on Europol is expected to be ready for ministerial signature during the German Presidency of the EU in October 1994. This will then have to be ratified by the 12 national parliaments - some of whom will expect to see the Convention on Data Protection at the same time. It is therefore unlikely that the other Europol activities (in addition to drugs) like databases on serious crime (and criminals) will come into effect until 1995/6.