With greater power comes no extra accountability: the proposed new Europol Regulation

Wannes Bellaert, PhD researcher and academic assistant, Ghent University Photo credit: OSeveno, via Wikimedia Commons Once again a new Europol legal framework On the 24th of June 2026, the European Commission proposed a new legal framework for Europol (i.e. the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation). As reflected in the preparatory documents and the proposal itself, the intentions are clear: extending Europol’s competencies, while refraining from remedying existing shortcomings in Europol’s accountability framework. Back then, when candidate Commission President Von Der Leyen suggested making Europol a “truly operational police agency”, uncertainty reigned over what she intended. Both the preparatory documents and the proposal demonstrate that a European FBI is still far off. Nonetheless, the European Commission envisages an expansion and codification of several elements. As regards the expansion, the European Commission envisages expanding the scope of cooperation…