Scottish police chief says UK influence reduced in Europol

The UK does “not have as much influence or as much voice” within a major European law enforcement agency postBrexit, says a police chief.

Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr also told MSPs on the policing subcommittee at Holyrood that the “complete loss” of the Schengen Information System (SIS2) is a “significant loss to law enforcement across the UK as a whole”.

Following Brexit, the UK forfeited its membership of institutions such as Europol, Eurojust, the European Arrest Warrant and real-time sensitive data-sharing agreements such as SIS2.

Mr Kerr says thirdparty access to Europol – the law enforcement agency of the European Union – has allowed police to retain the “vast majority” of its current capabilities. However, Mr Kerr said while the UK was previously a “big player” within the organisation, “some influence” has been lost.

Mr Kerr said: “We’ve retained the capabilities but we certainly don’t have as much influence.”

Europol handles criminal intelligence and combats serious international organised crime and terrorism.

The EU’s Schengen Information System database, which the UK has lost access to, includes alerts about people and stolen items, such as guns and cars.

British negotiators had sought to maintain access to the system as part of a deal, following concerns raised by police chiefs, but the EU said it was legally impossible to offer access to any country not in the Schengen area, including the UK.

Europol headquarters in The Hague.