EU Police Cooperation

Cooperation between the police forces of the EU member states is a growth area. It is an important part of the "Stockholm Program" – the EU's work program for legal and domestic issues, which was adopted by the European Commission in 2009. A considerable amount of EU legislation has already been adopted, or is planned for the near future. A large number of research issues are tied to this. 

One of these issues are data transfers. These will in the future be regulated by the principle of availability. This means that the police in principle should make its computer records available to other police forces in the other EU member countries. 

The so called "Atlas Council Resolution" means that the police in other EU countries can assist the Swedish police in various crisis situations. Such assistance may include equipment, expertise and the realization of operations. Joint investigation teams already exist and the use of these will increase.

An area of research which is linked to this is to examine the implications of this development on the Swedish regulations and the protective mechanisms which concern police use of compulsory measures.

Policing lies at the heart of state sovereignty. The exercising of public authority requires clear authorizations and explicit rules on accountability. In order to meet transnational network based threats the police must react by doing even more networking. The creation of satisfactory structures and mechanisms for demanding accountability from network based (transnational) policing and security operations is therefore also an important area for future research.

Work in this area of research will primarily be carried out through seminars on the topics of criminal law, EU law and within the framework of the University's Centre for Police Research. There are several researchers within the Faculty who are managing or planning various projects within this area of research.

Programme Manager: Iain Cameron