THE UK will pay to remain part of Europol post-Brexit, according to the government.
Damian Green made the announcement yesterday following Friday’s terrorist attack on the London Underground.
Green, effectively the deputy prime minister, confirmed that continued membership of the EU’s crime-fighting agency would “obviously involve paying for part of it”.
His comments indicate a softening of the UK’s tone on the issue. Prime Minister Theresa May previously suggested co-operation with the EU on security was dependent on the UK being given a good post-Brexit trade deal.
Westminster had suggested it would retain membership of Europol until March 2019, when the UK is due to leave the EU.
However, Green appeared to go even further, ahead of the publication of a government partnership paper today.
He said: “We want to continue cooperating as closely as we have been, and perhaps even more closely, with our European friends and neighbours on security, on counter-terrorism.
“For example, one of the institutions that is very useful in that is Europol. So we will want to remain a member of that, and that will obviously involve paying for part of it.”
Denmark also pays to be part of Europol but has no voting rights.
Plans for a new legal agreement on criminal justice partnership, intelligence and law enforcement have been drawn up by the Department for Exiting the European Union.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said that in order to keep both Europeans and people in the UK safe, effective co-operation was “crucial”.
“We already have a deep level of collaboration with the EU on security matters and it is in both our interests to find ways to maintain it,” Davis said.
“We approach negotiations on our future special partnership with the EU as an opportunity to build on our existing achievements.
“A new security treaty with the EU would be underpinned by our shared principles, and should make sure our partnership has the agility to respond to the ever-changing threats we face.
“Effective international co-operation is absolutely crucial for both the UK and the EU if we are to keep our citizens safe and bring criminals to justice.”
Last March, May was accused of using the UK’s police and intelligence services as leverage in the Brexit negotiations.
Since then Europe has been hit by a wave of terrorist attacks, most recently in Barcelona, Brussels, London and Manchester. The European Commission has said further attacks could be prevented by better intelligence-sharing between EU countries.
Europol does not arrest suspects or carry out investigations in EU member states. It provides support to EU law enforcement colleagues by gathering and analysing information, and coordinating operations.
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