News item | 28-09-2023 | 6:00 PM
Police officers from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg can now collaborate more easily and better across each other’s borders. The competent ministers and police chiefs from the three countries today signed the implementation agreements required for the entry into force of the new Benelux treaty on police cooperation on October 1, 2023. It is an important milestone in increasing the safety and sense of security of citizens and in being able to act quickly and effectively on each other’s territory.
In 2004, the police services of the three Benelux countries concluded an agreement, the so-called Senningen Treaty, to cooperate. This had to be revised, expanded and adapted to current security challenges. A new police treaty was signed in 2018.
This new Benelux police treaty has two major axes of innovation. It provides new possibilities for cross-border action and improves information exchanges between police services.
On the one hand, national borders no longer apply during pursuits and restrictions disappear. Previously, police were only allowed to conduct cross-border pursuits under certain circumstances, meaning many pursuits had to be halted at the border. A pursuit that now legally starts in one country may continue as usual, making it more efficient. The Treaty is also innovative and will make it possible for police officers to carry out certain investigative actions in the neighboring country (such as interrogating witnesses or victims).
On the other hand, in specific cases, police services are given direct access to each other’s databases and data can be exchanged, such as during mixed patrols in the border region. After all, police investigation is all about quickly gathering and sharing information to solve cases. By specifically sharing certain information between the police but also with (local) authorities, action can be taken more quickly on the ground.
What is also new is that special police services (such as anti-terrorist units) can be deployed cross-border in acute crisis situations. In addition, assistance at major events (such as the EU or NATO Summit) remains possible.
The countries are leading the way in the European Union with this intensive cross-border police cooperation, based on trust.
Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne (BE): “I am pleased that the new police cooperation treaty with the Netherlands and Luxembourg can be implemented from next week. The exchange of police information and consultation of each other’s databases is a crucial step that will significantly strengthen our joint efforts against organized crime. In addition, our police officers will be able to conduct cross-border pursuits and observations more easily. With this we once again show ourselves as a leader within the European Union.”
Minister of the Interior, Annelies Verlinden (BE): “Criminals do not allow their activities to be stopped by national borders and legislation. And so we as a government must create opportunities for our police to work across borders and to collaborate as optimally as possible with our neighboring countries. It is only so that we can have more impact on the criminal organizations and their activities and also maintain public order. Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were already a forerunner in this. The Benelux Police Treaty, which was concluded in 2004, is today being expanded and adapted to the many new challenges to which we must be able to provide a vigorous response. This makes us Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg an example for other European countries. It is an important and good practice that I will share as Minister of the Interior during the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2024. It is with confidence and appreciation to the police chiefs of the three countries and their staff that I see this renewed Benelux Treaty coming into force from October 1.”
Minister of Justice and Security, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius (NL): “Organized crime makes no difference between the ports of Rotterdam, Vlissingen and Antwerp. International drug crime crosses all our borders and, thanks to the good infrastructure, reaches our neighboring countries. So if the Federal Police encounter a Dutch vehicle that has been spotted, they must of course be able to pursue that vehicle and force it to stop, even if they have now crossed the border. It sounds logical and may therefore seem simple. But nothing could be further from the truth, because our officers must operate carefully within the boundaries of the law. Now that this has been arranged, a major step is being taken in cross-border cooperation between the police services of the three countries.”
Minister of Homeland Security, Henri Kox (LU): “Our Benelux Union is a forerunner, both in the way we work together and in the progress we have made in our cooperation. Cross-border organized crime and terrorism remain major threats that we must counter to be vigilant and to act effectively, and I welcome the entry into force of the Treaty as a concrete and decisive step in this direction.”
State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, Nicole de Moor (BE): “The treaty also improves the framework regarding the transfer of aliens in the Benelux. Just think of someone who is released from prison in Belgium and has to be taken to the Luxembourg or Dutch border. Or a third-country national who must be taken outside the Benelux countries but passes from the Netherlands through Belgium. You need all kinds of practical agreements about this to manage this properly and to respect the legislation within which this happens. What guidance is needed? Are coercive measures used or not? Make good agreements that it is clear for the services about how they should work together.”
Secretary General of the Benelux, Frans Weekers: “The Benelux Police Treaty removes border barriers and makes police cooperation between our countries better and simpler, more effective and more efficient. In certain areas it creates one joint Benelux territory. This is the best, most far-reaching police treaty in Europe. The Benelux partners are working on real European integration, our countries do not turn their backs on each other, but join forces.”