SWEDISH POLICE PREPARED FOR EU-COOPERATION
As early as 1988, the Swedish Police began preparing for an eventual membership with the EU. Among other things, the National Police Board, RPS (Rikspolisstyrelse) was charged with taking preparatory measures including the setting up of a national criminal intelligence service in view of a Swedish participation in Europol.
"The creation of criminal intelligence structures is probably among the most important compensatory measures in view of the abolition of internal borders", says Christer Ekberg, the head of the International Secretariat of the RPS.
Additional measures on the National Police Board's list of charges comprise the planned increase of the number of liaison officers and such items as international information exchange and methods of policing.
The RPS also appears to advocate Swedish membership with the Schengen group.
The number of Swedish liaison officers will increase significantly as a result of EU-membership. At present, liaison officers are already stationed in Athens, The Hague, and Lisbon. More liaison officers will also be detached to Eastern and Central Europe. For the time being, the Swedish police has representatives in Tallinn, Riga, Moscow, Warsaw and Budapest. The strong focus on Eastern Europe represents an attempt to adapt to the development of drug related and other international crime, Ekberg says.
Source: Svensk Polis, No.8-9, September 94