Independent Police Accountability in the European Union’s Multilevel System – Disconnected worlds

The paper discusses the role of police accountability and independent police complaints schemes in the European Union’s multilevel system. Civil society organisations and members of the European Parliament have frequently criticised EU agencies in the Area of Freedom Security and Justice (AFSJ) for poor accountability mechanisms and complaint schemes with respect to violations of human rights. This is particularly the case for Frontex, with allegations of illegal pushbacks of migrants – but also for Europol with respect to data processing practices. The paper discusses the (limited) effectiveness of accountability mechanisms that EU agencies acting in the AFSJ had to establish according to the EU regulations governing their work. It also shows that independent police accountability bodies in the member states instead focus on street-level policing and tend to overlook connections to transnational police cooperation and to the EU agencies involved. The paper particularly looks at the multi-faceted concept of independence in the context of police accountability in the European Union’s multilevel system. In scholarly debates on the prerequisites of well-functioning accountability bodies, independence is usually framed as an essential requirement. A closer look at the concept of independence reveals that it is a complex and multi-faceted concept. The facets include institutional independence in relation to governmental bodies and the police, personal independence of leadership personnel and staff in relation to the police, independence of investigation and financial independence. The paper is based on empirical results from comparative research (project Police Accountability – Towards International Standards and others).