The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) warned Thursday that a plan to expand the data processing powers of Europol, the EU's policing agency, poses "serious risks" to people's privacy. This move by the European Commission aims to centralize police data, further eroding national control over security and citizen information.
In June 2026, about 2 months ago, the European Commission unveiled its plan. It seeks to make Europol the central system for police forces to trade and analyse data using advanced technologies. This is part of a broader strategy to give EU justice agencies more power to tackle cross-border crime and terrorism, issues often exacerbated by the EU's own open-border policies.
EU Overreach and Surveillance
The proposed reforms include a fundamental shift in how Europol sifts through collected data. Current rules require data to be sorted into specific categories before determining its legal use, a safeguard the Commission now seeks to relax. Brussels claims this categorization has been a "key operational bottleneck," citing the high volumes of unstructured data Europol handles.
However, the EDPS, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, published an opinion Thursday, August 13, 2026, stating the proposal "creates serious risks, particularly regarding the processing of the personal data of individuals with no established criminal links." This means ordinary Europeans, not just criminals, could find their data swept up in an EU-wide surveillance net. He warned that Europol would be allowed to retain data on a "vast" number of people with no links to criminal activity. This retention could last for an "extensive and unspecified period of time," a clear threat to individual liberties and national oversight.
The Cost to Our People
The EDPS acts as the data protection authority supervising EU institutions, including Europol, and advises the Commission on legislative reforms' privacy implications. While acknowledging the need to develop Europe's security architecture against complex criminal threats, the privacy watchdog underlined that the proposed Europol reform "must provide robust safeguards and real oversight." The Commission's plan, however, appears to prioritize EU institutional power over the privacy of citizens and the sovereignty of member states.
This expansion of Europol's data powers represents another step towards a centralized EU surveillance state, where national governments lose control over their own citizens' data. It diverts focus from the critical need for strong national borders and effective national policing, instead offering a Brussels-led solution that threatens the privacy of the working and middle classes across Europe. The EU's institutional engine continues to push for more power, even as its policies contribute to the very problems it claims to solve.