National authorities

The Icelandic Coast Guard is a law enforcement agency which has the primary task of maritime surveillance, safety and security around Iceland. This includes both monitoring and response operations. As such, the most extensive duties are search and rescue, safety and security surveillance and law enforcement at sea. Law enforcement operations contain protection against illegal activities such as illegal migration and illegal drug trafficking, fisheries control and enforcement, pollution surveillance and response, natural resource, and environmental protection. Salvage and rescue diving play a considerable role as the Icelandic Coast Guard is the only organisation in the country specially equipped for such operations.

All police activities are operated by the State under the control of the Minister of Interior, the Supreme Commander of the Icelandic Police. The National Commissioner of Police acts on behalf of the Ministry of Interior in police affairs, mainly in administrative duties vis-à-vis the regional Commissioners of Police. The National Commissioner performs various administrative functions of law enforcement and carries out any police work which requires centralisation or coordination. Nine district commissioners are responsible for police functions, including border control, and the daily administration of the police in their districts. The biggest unit working with border control is the Airport Division of the Sudurnes District Police at Keflavik International Airport.

The Italian Coast Guard, a specialised corps of the Navy, is managed mainly by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. It collaborates with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Fisheries. The corps' organisation is capillary. A central headquarter is located in Rome with its subordinate: 15 maritime regional offices, 128 local maritime offices and 48 smaller stations. The number of personnel working for the Italian Coast Guard is nearly 11 000.The Coast Guard has 150 naval ships, 21 aircraft and many underwater forces. The first priority of the Coast Guard is search and rescue at sea followed by maritime safety, marine environment and maritime fishing control.

Guardia di Finanza Corps comprises: 1. General Headquarters which defines the strategic planning initiatives and liaises with external institutions and authorities, national and international; 2. Public Finance Protection Headquarters which analyses revenues, public spending and budget fraud; 3. Economy Protection Headquarters which deals with the protection of deposit schemes, public economy, financial markets and the countering of organised financial crime; 4. Central Air & Naval Headquarters which supervises, coordinates, and controls the operational, training, logistic and administrative sectors for the Corps' open-sea deployment system. The territorial units are present in multiple locations covering the area of the whole country, providing institutional services and financial security. Under the strategic directives issued by the General Headquarters, their actions are integrated with those of the special units. In addition to the above, territorial component, there are 103 Tax Police Units which deal with more specialised investigations.

The Polizia di Stato (Italian National Police) was established in 1981 by demilitarising the former Corpo delle Guardie di Pubblica Sicurezza. The Polizia di Stato belongs to the Department of Public Security within the Ministry of the Interior. The Department has several central directorates including the Central Directorate for Immigration and Border Police. The Polizia di Frontiera (a border police branch) is part of the Central Directorate for Immigration and Border Police, the body responsible for border and immigration management at land, sea and air borders. This Directorate is also responsible for aviation security at airports and for return activities.