German chosen to head Europol

A senior German police officer was chosen to head the European Union's police agency Europol, Danish Justice Minister Lene Espersen said, breaking a deadlock that had become an embarrassment.

Ms Espersen said Max-Peter Ratzel, a senior official at the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), was the candidate preferred by EU justice and interior ministers meeting in Brussels.

The 25-nation bloc failed to agree on a director for the Hague-based police intelligence body last year when France and Germany, which normally support each other in EU affairs, each insisted that their own nominee was best suited to the job. Paris and Berlin put forward new names to compete with an Italian and the acting director at Europol, Spaniard Mariano Simancas Carrion, to succeed former Europol chief Juergen Storbeck, a German whose term expired in 2004.

"It was Mr Ratzel who the selection committee said was the best candidate," Ms Espersen told Reuters.

EU leaders agree Europol should play a key role in fighting terrorism but failure to find a new leader and reluctance among member states to share intelligence has hamstrung the agency.

Ms Espersen said she was convinced that Mr Ratzel, who will be Europol's director for the next five years, could help boost the agency's role and make it more efficient.