Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands (Credit: Europol.europa.eu)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
Catherine De Bolle has been re-appointed for a second term as the Executive Director of Europol by the Council of the European Union. The EU last week extended De Bolle’s term as boss of Europol for a period of four years until 1 May 2026. The extension is based on a procedure following the decision of the Management Board of Europol as of 1 May 2017, which sets out for the extension of the term of office of the Executive Director of Europol. “According to this procedure, Europol’s Management Board had informed the European Parliament that it would propose to the Council of the European Union that Ms. De Bolle’s term of office be extended,” Europol said in a statement. De Bolle, 50, is the first female ever appointed to the top job as head of Europe’s police organization. Europol is the European Union’s law enforcement agency. Headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, Europol supports the 27 EU Member States in their fight against terrorism, cybercrime and other serious and organised forms of crime. De Bolle replaced Rob Wainwright in 2018 as the new Europol boss.
First Female Chief of Europe’s Europol Police Organization
Credit: EU Council news / Catherine De Bolle – Executive Director of Europol
The female Executive Director of Europe’s police organization has broken through many “glass ceilings” during her impressive law enforcement career. De Bolle made history in 2012 when she became the first woman appointed Commissioner General of the Federal Police in her native Belgium.
The EU’s top cop pledged to invest more in Europol’s capacity to analyse security threats
Credit: demorgan.be / Catherine De Bolle. © Karel Duerinckx /
After her appointment in 2018, De Bolle pledged to invest more in Europol’s capacity to analyse security threats after being named as first woman to head the EU’s chief law enforcement body.
“Europol has to invest even more in the analytical capacity,” De Bolle said in a 2018 video run on an EU Twitter feed. “We have to put the resources and the knowledge together to have a strategic view on the future on what are threats to the security of the European citizens,” she added.
EU police boss has broken through many glass ceilings in law enforcement career
Source: LeVif.be/ Belgium Police Commissioner De Bolle
De Bolle became Belgium’s first female Federal Police commissioner in 2012
“I have always been the first (woman) in most of the jobs I have done,”
-De Bolle.
De Bolle believes women have to find a balance between family and career
“In the beginning, twenty years ago, when I started in the local police, it was more difficult. When I see that women in charge in different organisations are listeners and people come to us. It’s important to listen to my people who are my ears and eyes on the street everyday. It’s still often the case that young women choose their family over their career, but you have to have to find a balance and you have to help them find a balance,” De Bolle, as told to the Council of the EU.
Europol has a budget of £192m and employs more than 1000 workers
Credit: Wikipedia OSeveno – / Europol building, The Hague, the Netherlands, is the headquarters of Europol, a European organization, in which national police forces cooperate, similar to INTERPOL.
The Europol 2022 budget of €192.4 million, represents an increase of €23.4 million compared to Europol’s final budget in 2021.
