France

French Customs falls under the Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes, part of the Ministry of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Service. The Directorate-General is in charge of detecting and tackling fraud, illegal trafficking drugs, counterfeits products and swindling with cigarettes and tobacco. With a workforce of 18,800 agents, French Customs has the legal powers to fight against organised crime, alongside the Police and Gendarmerie. Last year, French customs detected more than 100,000 customs offences, seized 50 tonnes of drugs, 202 tonnes of cigarettes and tobacco products, and 4.6 million tonnes of counterfeit goods. Within the framework of international organised crime, French Customs continues to intensify its fruitful collaboration with Europol. Between 2004 and 2008 the number of requests sent to Europol AWF in which the Customs participates doubled.

The French National Police is a civil institution falling under the Ministry of Interior. It has a staff of 145,000 civil servants and a budget of 8,600 million euros. It has 10 departments operating in six main areas:

Security of persons, goods and institutions:

• Public Security Central Services are in charge of fighting petty crime;
• Interior Information Central Services defend the interests of the state and fight against terrorism;
• High Personalities Protection Services protect VIPs.

Migration and combating illegal work:

• Borders Police Central Services are in charge of cross-border movements. Organised crime, financial crime, terrorism and drugs trafficking:
• Judicial Police Central Services fight all serious crimes affecting French territory. They are also responsible for the police cooperation channels (Europol, Schengen, Interpol). Public order:
• Security Republican Companies Central Services maintain order, fight against urban violence and assist persons on the roads, at sea and in the mountains. International cooperation: This mission is led by the International Relations Unit. The Operational Police Cooperation Central Section manages the cooperation channels: Bureau SIRENE, Coop Schengen, Interpol and Europol). The International Technical Cooperation Service supports this mission technically.

Administering the National Police:

• Administrative Services;
• Training Services;
• General Inspection of the National Police.

The French National Gendarmerie, with a staff of more than 100,000, is a military institution which used to fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. Since 1 January 2009, it falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior. It is divided into 22 areas under three domains of competence:

• Divisional gendarmerie: It is the community policing force which carries out all general policing, judicial and military activities. Its divisional units work in parallel with the special units (special investigation, road surveillance, surveillance and intervention, juvenile delinquency prevention, mountain and cave rescue, air and nautical patrol);
• Mobile gendarmerie: This force is mainly responsible for ensuring maintenance and restoration of law and order under any circumstances. It also participates in maintaining general public safety, alongside the divisional gendarmerie. The Gendarmerie National Intervention Group (Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale; GIGN) is also part of this force;
• Special branches: These include the Republican Guard in Paris, the Maritime Gendarmerie, the Air Force Gendarmerie, the Air Transport Gendarmerie, the Arms and Ammunition Gendarmerie and non-metropolitan units such as those serving in the French overseas territories, or provost detachments.