ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an assessment of Europol's international dimension based on its former legal framework and its international cooperation practice. It examines whether Europol's international cooperation mandate, tasks and activities under the former Europol Council Decision were fully compatible with Union's constitutional framework and principles, in particular after Lisbon. The chapter offers a fresh appraisal of Europol's redesigned international dimension based on the new Europol Regulation with a view to mapping prospectively its legal effects and potential problems regarding Europol's operation as a global actor. It overviews the legal-policy context relevant for the study of Europol as a global actor. The chapter provides an assessment of Europol's international dimension with regard to the legal nature and effects of its international cooperation instruments, the legal status of the Agency as a global actor, and as concerns the compatibility of its international dimension with the Union's relevant legal-institutional framework.
