Brussels, 28/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday the Council approved a Protocol aimed at defining the aims and functioning of the European Police Office, Europol. This Protocol widens the list of Europol competences, notably adding that its competence for a form of crime or for specific aspects of a form of crime include related crimes. It also specifies the methods for contact and cooperation with national police forces. Finally, it stipulates that the joint control authority should hand its regular reports to the European Parliament. The Council reached a political agreement over this text a year ago (EUROPE of 19/12/2002). The Protocol's ratification by all the member states has been extremely lengthy. The constitutional treaty should allow for the modification of the Europol statute, to pass from the intergovernmental ratification system to the Community legislative system.