Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Europol's main function would to provide information that the police force in an EU member state would use. However, Europol can also jointly investigate with a member state's force. Europol would not land in a state on its own and start an investigation. There would be certain sovereignty issues in respect of that. This instrument envisages a joint investigation by Europol and a member state's police force. Of course, one could have a co-operative investigation across a number of member states where there is a particular issue under investigation.