Commission proposes updated Europol regulation expanding operational mandate
The European Commission has presented a Proposal (COM(2026)580 final, 24 June 2026) for a Regulation to replace Regulation (EU) 2016/794, strengthening Europol’s mandate, creating Union Centers of specialised expertise, EU Police Shared Data Space, a Europol cloud infrastructure, and Europol support offices in Member States.
Main action: The proposal establishes a strengthened legal and operational framework for Europol to act as an information, operational and technology & innovation hub, including: Operational and Analysis Service (24/7); Centers of Operational Expertise (Cybercrime, Counter-Terrorism, Financial & Economic Crime, Serious & Organised Crime, Migrant Smuggling); Police Shared Data Space and a sovereign Europol cloud infrastructure; and Europol support offices embedded in Member States. It also codifies EU-level cooperative mechanisms with EPPO, Eurojust, eu‑LISA, ENISA, AMLA, OLAF and Frontex.
Budget, timing and implementation details: The impact assessment and legislative financial statement estimate additional EU-level resources of about EUR 1.053 billion over the implementation period (2028–2034) and Member State costs of about EUR 590 million for national system adaptations in the first seven years; a range of implementing acts and phased technical roll-outs (data loaders, Police Shared Data Space, EU DNA matching application, EU Police Digital Identity) are foreseen from Year 1 to Year 6 after entry into application. The proposal includes detailed safeguards on data protection, access restrictions, logging, storage periods and EDPS oversight.