We work with 6 decentralised agencies: CEPOL, EUAA, EMCDDA, eu-LISA, Europol, EBCGA (FRONTEX), and the Research Executive Agency (REA). The agencies deal with a wide range of home affairs issues including migration and border management, drug trafficking, combating organised crime and human trafficking.
FRONTEX: The European Border and Coast Guard Agency
FRONTEX promotes, coordinates and develops European border management in line with the EU fundamental rights charter and the concept of Integrated Border Management. The agency:
- monitors and analyses the situation at the EU external borders. It carries out vulnerability assessments to evaluate the capacity and readiness of each Member State to face challenges at its external borders.
- assists EU countries in training national border guards and develops common training standards. It also participates in the development of research and innovation related to the control of external borders.
- assists EU countries in circumstances requiring increased technical and operational help at external borders which may imply support - in cooperation with Europol and Eurojust – to detect and prevent organised cross-border crime and terrorism.
supports search and rescue (SAR) operations at sea and assists EU countries in returns of people who have exhausted all legal avenues to legitimise their stay within the EU, and supports – together with other EU agencies – national authorities of the Member States carrying out coast guard functions.
FRONTEX is located in Warsaw (Poland).
Europol: The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation
Europol assists EU countries’ police forces in preventing and combating serious crime such as terrorism, drug trafficking, people smuggling, cybercrime, and other organised crime activities.
The services offered by Europol to national law enforcement services include:
- facilitating exchanges of information
- providing criminal analyses and threat assessments
- assisting and coordinating cross border investigations and operational actions.
Unlike national police forces, Europol does not have any autonomous investigative or coercive powers.
Europol is located in The Hague (The Netherlands).
CEPOL: The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training
CEPOL is an EU agency dedicated to develop, implement and coordinate training activities for law enforcement officials. It brings together a network of training institutes for law enforcement officials based in EU countries and supports them in providing training on security, law enforcement cooperation and information exchange, mirroring the European priorities in each crime area.
CEPOL’s portfolio encompasses residential activities, online learning (i.e. webinars, online modules, online courses, etc.), exchange programmes, common curricula, research and science.
CEPOL is located in Budapest (Hungary).
EMCDDA: The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
Independent, science-based information is vital for helping Europe understand the nature of its drug problem and to better respond to it. The role of EMCDDA is to provide the EU and its member countries with a factual overview of the European drug situation and a solid evidence base to support the drugs debate. The agency:
- supplies data for policymakers to draw up informed drug laws and strategies
- assists professionals and practitioners working in the field to pinpoint best practices and new areas of research.
EMCDDA is located in Lisbon (Portugal).
EUAA: The European Union Agency for Asylum
EUAA contributes to the implementation of the Common European Asylum System. It:
- facilitates, develops and coordinates practical cooperation among EU countries on asylum and provides training to asylum and reception officials.
- acts as an independent centre of expertise on asylum; draws up an annual report on the asylum situation in the EU and regularly prepares country of origin information reports
- provides technical and operational assistance to EU countries which experience particular pressure on their asylum and reception systems, or which request assistance with regard to the implementation of their obligations under the Common European Asylum System
EUAA is located in La Valletta (Malta).
eu-LISA: European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
eu-LISA fulfills the operational management tasks for Schengen Information System (SIS), Visa Information System (VIS) and EURODAC. It ensures that these IT systems are kept functioning 24 hours a day, seven days a week to allow continuous and uninterrupted exchange of data between the national authorities using these systems.
Its other responsibilities include adopting the necessary security measures and ensuring data security and integrity as well as compliance with data protection rules.
The headquarters is in Tallinn (Estonia), while the operational management is carried out in Strasbourg (France).