EU Mulls New Central Cyber Crime Agency

Via OUT-LAW.com.

The Council of Ministers has asked the Commission to look at its agreed set of cybercrime objectives and investigate whether a new, centralised agency is a better way of achieving those than the current inter-agency co-operation.

Its objectives include raising the standard of specialisation of investigators and prosecutors as well as judges and forensic staff; encourage information sharing between countries' police forces; and to harmonise the approaches taken to fighting cybercrime in the EU's 27 countries.

"[The Council] proposes that the Commission draw up a feasibility study on the possibility of creating a centre to carry out the aforementioned actions, where they have not already been achieved," said the text adopted by the Council this week. "The centre might also evaluate and monitor the preventive and investigative measures to be carried out."

"This feasibility study should consider, in particular, the aim, scope and possible financing of the centre and whether it should be located at Europol, "it said.

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