The former head of Europol warned that Britain should be very concerned about the possibility of a non-deal Brexit.

Max-Peter Ratsel told Sky News in particular that he believed British national security was at stake and urged leaders to reach an agreement on security cooperation. No transaction.

“I’m worried, I’m very worried. I’m afraid as a European when I lose a part of our ability, but I’m more worried if I ‘m British,” he said.

“By nature you will lose more than we lose – look at the size of the communities, look at the size of the data.

“If I were British, I would be very worried about whether the flow of information would be as good as before.”

Led by German Mr. Ratsel Of the European Union Law Enforcement Agency from 2005 to 2009. He was succeeded by Welshman Sir Rob Weinwright.

Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

He said: “This is my message to all politicians – please understand that there must be a better way.

“Even if there is no transaction, try to make an agreement for cooperation, especially in the areas of internal security and the judicial system.

“Tell your people on the security side that you have a responsibility to do your best to maintain a high level of cooperation.”

The UK will automatically leave Europol on January 1, 2021, and even if an agreement is reached, “Operation-Partner-Status” is the best the UK expects.

This will lead to the same level of countries as the UK, United States, Norway and Australia, i.e. less access to sensitive data and less influence on the organization.

The UK will lose access to the Schenchen information system, a database that provides live alerts to police and border guards for 35,000 people under a European arrest warrant.

It also alerts suspicious foreign fighters, missing persons and people interested in EU security agencies.

“It is very dangerous and very complicated. If we look at the future of cooperation in a security environment, ”Ratsel said.

“Great Britain has lost the founding of the European Union, and so has Britain.

“Therefore, there must be a cooperation agreement if Great Britain is to cooperate with Europol in the future, but you are a third party partner.

“A third partner in character is not a real partner,” he added.

Subscribe to All Out Politics Podcast Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Sprayer

Ratsel said the recent clashes had shattered trust on both sides.

“Last year’s process [Brexit negotiations] The deal between Great Britain and the European Union has greatly damaged credibility and raised the question of ‘how credible is Great Britain’.

“Both partners, the British side and the European side, must be interested in how to cooperate.

“There is no doubt that we need to cooperate. Only by sharing information can we improve our cooperative framework, improve our crime analysis, and prevent crime from happening.

“In the future, the European space will be the European space for criminals.”

He added: “Even if you are not part of the European Union now, criminals will travel from the continent to Great Britain and back.”