The BENELUX Police Convention: An important step forward in cross-border crime fighting
Dr. Math Noortmann
Senior Researcher Internationaal en Europees Recht
On 1 October last, the new Treaty between Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands on police cooperation finally entered into force (https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBV0006758/2018-07-23 for short BENELUX Police Treaty). This came more than five years after the treaty was signed in 2018. This treaty replaces the 20-year-old Convention on Cross-Border Police Action of 2004 and can be seen as a particular milestone in cross-border crime fighting. The convention not only provides more opportunities for the “exchange of personal data and information” but also allows police forces further “cross-border operations” “on their own initiative”. That one sovereign country’ s police may “observe”, “track” and “pursue” in another sovereign country is unprecedented. The BENELUX thereby settles an important (jurisdictional) wall in the fight against cross-border crime and perhaps provides the impetus to a new development in the European Union in terms of day-to-day cooperation between services in border regions
Substantively political discussions on implementation issues, led to the delay between signing and entry into force. The various opinions from the Personal Data Authority, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Regional Mayors, police and police union provide a good insight into identified and expected issues. Certain implementation issues have therefore already been identified and named and set out in a formal implementation agreement. This, of course, does not eliminate the problems. No treaty provides or can provide for the diversity of operational issues and questions that are bound to arise when the treaty is actually going to be implemented. New, unexpectedly operational issues will also emerge, which will make it necessary, through additional national implementation regulations and implementation arrangements between police forces and between other potential stakeholders such as national prosecutors’ offices, to keep the treaty enforceable and functional.
However, the convention is not limited exclusively to police cooperation. ‘The taking of administrative measures’ is also explicitly stated as the ‘purpose of the [informatie] exchange’. In my view , the public prosecutor therefore rightly concludes that on the basis of this convention, “police forces and judicial services will work more closely cooperate with local administrations to exchange more targeted information on organised crime (administrative approach) in accordance with national law.” (https://magazines.openbaarministerie.nl/opportuun/2018/03/kortom). There is certainly an opportunity to intensify the discussion of the concept of the integrated approach between border regions , but to what extent the Benelux Police Treaty can actually be a trigger be a trigger for further border regional cooperation between municipalities, police forces and prosecutors ‘ offices remains to be seen.
The BENELUX Police Convention is a unique and innovative initiative. There can be no doubt about that. Article 65 states that: “No later than five years after the entry into force of this Treaty … the effectiveness and impact of this Treaty in practice” should be evaluated. In order to demonstrate that the Convention contributes to improved border-regional cooperation in crime control and is instrumental in reducing cross-border crime, it seems advisable to structurally monitor the implementation of the Convention from the beginning. Collecting and analysing data from the beginning is necessary not only for meaningful evaluation but also for improvements in day-to-day implementation and real-time operationalisation of the treaty.