Rob Wainwright (civil servant)

For other people with the same name, see Robert Wainwright (disambiguation).

Rob Wainwright
Director of Europol
Incumbent
Assumed office April 2009
Preceded by	Max-Peter Ratzel
Personal details
Born	1967 (age 56–57) Carmarthen, Wales
Nationality	British
Alma mater	London School of Economics
Profession	Law Enforcement
Website	www.europol.europa.eu

File:Director Wainwright at the World Economic Forum.jpg

Wainwright at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2012

Robert Mark Wainwright (born 1967) is a British civil servant and the current director of Europol. He has said society accepts that intercepting private phone calls is "a reasonable way to run a democracy".

Education & Career

Wainwright got his schooling at the London School of Economics, but he did not progress beyond the undergraduate level, which he achieved in 1989. He then worked for the United Kingdom's Security Service (MI5) as an intelligence analyst.

From 2000 to 2003, Wainwright was the UK Management Board member at Europol and a UK Liaison Officer. At the same time, he was Head of the British Europol National Unit in London.

In 2003 he was appointed Director of International Affairs of the UK’s National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), where he was responsible for international operations and for the development and implementation of a British strategy against illegal immigration. From 2006 Wainwright held the post of head of the international department of the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

In April 2009, Wainwright was appointed Director of Europol, the European Police Office, being the first Director without a police background or belonging to a national police force.

He leads a staff of over 800 personnel who support law enforcement authorities in the 28 EU Member States to tackle international organised crime. The agency handles over 18 000 cross–border cases per year in areas such as drugs, human trafficking, cybercrime, intellectual property crime, cigarette smuggling, Euro counterfeiting, money laundering and asset tracing, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and terrorism.

Wainwright and other EU citizens witnessed the reform of Europol’s legal framework as it became a formal EU agency on 1 January 2010. Through this process Europol claimed to have acquired a stronger mandate and new capabilities.

On 1 July 2011, Wainwright hosted HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands as she officially opened Europol’s expensive new headquarters in The Hague. In March 2012, the Council of Justice and Home Affairs extended Wainwright’s term of office as Director of Europol until 2017.

Personal life

Wainwright is married with three children and his interests include literature and history.

External links

• Profile of Rob Wainwright from Europol
• Wainwright in The Newspaper "The Hague"
• Wainwright in the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Traffickingel:Ρομπ Γουαιινραητ (Γιουροπολ)