Interpol summarizes this force (part of the Ministry of Defence), with military status, as having "nationwide remit for crime investigations. It also serves as the military police for the Italian armed forces and can be called upon for national defence action." According to Europol (the EU's law enforcement agency), the Carabinieri Corps' military duties include "contributing to national defense, participating in military operations in Italy and abroad, executing military police functions and ensuring the security of Italian diplomatic and consular representations". As a national police force, it "carries out public order and security policing, as well as investigative activities on its own initiative or at the request of the judicial authorities".