DEMOCRATIC OVERSIGHT AND EUROPEAN SECURITY: PARLIAMENT HOSTS THE 17th JPSG MEETING ON EUROPOL

On 3–4 November 2025, the European Parliament hosted in Brussels the 17th meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) on Europol, co-chaired by Javier Zarzalejos, Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), together with Konrad Frysztak, Chair of the delegation of the Sejm (Lower House of the Polish Parliament), and Kazimierz Ujazdowski, Chair of the delegation of the Polish Senate.

The JPSG on Europol, created in 2017, provides a framework for national parliaments and the European Parliament to jointly exercise political oversight of Europol’s activities, ensuring that the Agency’s work respects fundamental rights and is carried out with transparency and democratic control.

The meeting brought together more than 50 parliamentarians from 23 Member States. In his opening remarks, Javier Zarzalejos underlined the need to ensure that Europol’s growth and modernisation are always accompanied by strong, transparent, and accountability-driven parliamentary scrutiny.

Speakers during the various sessions included Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle; the Chair of its Management Board, Ireneusz Sieńko; the European Data Protection Supervisor, Wojciech Wiewiórowski; Europol’s Data Protection Officer, Daniel Drewer; and Deputy Executive Director, Jürgen Ebner, as well as representatives from the European Commission and national law enforcement authorities.

Discussions focused on the future of Europol’s mandate, the protection of fundamental rights, legitimate access to data for law-enforcement purposes, the fight against environmental crime—including waste trafficking and trade in protected species—and the Agency’s activities related to the war in Ukraine.

The JPSG also approved the appointment of the ten members of the new Fundamental Rights Advisory Forum, which will provide independent advice to the parliamentary group.

The next meeting of the JPSG on Europol will take place on 4–5 February 2026 in Nicosia (Cyprus), under the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union.