Interpol vs Europol: What’s the difference?

INTERPOL is a global police coordination organization with 195 member countries, headquartered in Lyon. Europol is an EU-only law enforcement agency supporting the 27 EU member states, headquartered in The Hague. INTERPOL focuses on circulating notices and coordinating global investigations; Europol focuses on intelligence sharing within the EU.

Neither INTERPOL nor Europol have powers of arrest. INTERPOL issues Red Notices requesting member countries to locate and arrest persons, but it is national police forces that make the actual arrest. Europol supports EU law enforcement operations but relies entirely on national agencies for any arrests.

Europol primarily operates within EU member states. It has cooperation agreements with non-EU countries and organizations, but its operational mandate is limited to the EU. For global law enforcement cooperation outside the EU, INTERPOL is the relevant body.

No. Only INTERPOL can issue Red Notices. Europol’s equivalent tool for circulating alerts within the EU is the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), which is a legally binding instrument issued by national courts — not Europol itself.

A European Arrest Warrant is a legally binding court order issued by an EU member state requiring another EU state to arrest and surrender a person. An INTERPOL Red Notice is a request to 195 countries to locate and provisionally arrest a person — it is not legally binding. EAWs are faster and more enforceable within the EU.

Europol and INTERPOL share information under cooperation agreements. INTERPOL data may be accessible to Europol and vice versa. Our lawyers can determine through formal data access requests exactly which organizations hold data about a specific individual. Contact: [email protected] | WhatsApp/Telegram: +357 96 447475