Bilateral Police Liaison Officers:Practices and European Policy

Abstract

Police from the European Union (EU) Member States make significant use of bilateral liaison officersto cooperate with police in other countries. In the past decades, a number of TREVI and EU Councilpolicy instruments have aimed to enhance the common use of liaison officers by the MemberStates. This research article discusses these policy instruments from the perspective of thepracticalities of the work of liaison officers, examines the underlying rationalities of the instrumentsand assesses their effects. The findings show that national interests of Member States remainparamount in posting liaison officers. Practices of liaison officers are largely governed by nationalregulations and organisational particulars, but also depend on the high level of discretion thatliaison officers can exercise. In contrast, the policy instruments are largely driven by a politicalrationality and little intended effect of these instruments can be detected.