Thesis defence Realising responsibility in EU law enforcement: Europol and online service provider collaborations Add to calendar 2026-05-22 15:00 2026-05-22 17:00 Europe/Rome Realising responsibility in EU law enforcement: Europol and online service provider collaborations Sala del Consiglio Villa Salviati - Castle YYYY-MM-DD Print Share: Share on Facebook Share on BlueSky Share on X Share on LinkedIn Send by email Scheduled dates May 22 2026 15:00 - 17:00 CEST Sala del Consiglio, Villa Salviati - Castle Organised by Department of Law Leonore ten Hulsen is defending her PhD thesis Serious and organised (cyber)crime is exerting an increasingly destabilizing effect on society, with the online sphere central to its success. Europol, the EU law enforcement agency, has assumed a central position in preventing and combating these crimes. This has led to an expansion of Europol’s powers, closely linked to the securitisation movement in the EU. Moreover, as digital threats intensify, online service providers (OSPs) in particular are expected to take a more active role in addressing crime via the process of 'responsibilisation'. Focusing on Europol’s collaborations with OSPs to combat online terrorist content and online child sexual abuse material, I investigate how the European Union reallocates law enforcement responsibilities in the EU, through legislation and practice, to Europol and online service providers and how these responsibilities should be assessed. To address this topic, the thesis explores wider trends of securitisation and the responsibilisation of private actors, and proposes a theoretical framework on responsibility. Two core types of responsibility are identified that are particularly relevant to this context: role-responsibility (the assignment of (non-)legal complex or extensive tasks to an actor) and liability-responsibility (the legal obligation to compensate). Through an analysis of voluntary public-private collaborative projects, legal notification duties, and referrals, this thesis examines the legal and practical capacities of Europol and OSPs to collaborate. It demonstrates how informal mechanisms expand both the actor's role-responsibilities while leaving a lacuna in corresponding liability-responsibility, highlighting the risks of an unresolved responsibility gap in EU security governance. By addressing this gap, the thesis enhances our understanding of the evolving nature of EU law enforcement and proposes ways to better align role-responsibilities with liability-responsibilities in public-private security governance. Understanding these changes is essential to ensuring that cybercrime enforcement remains both effective and accountable in the digital age. Register