6 November 2018 - Press Release of the Council of the European Union
The Council today adopted rules which will improve the way Eurojust, the European Union Agency for criminal justice cooperation, works. The amended regulation reforms Eurojust’s functioning and structure to improve its operational effectiveness, update its data protection framework and increase its transparency and democratic oversight.
The regulation will enter into force one year after its publication in the EU official journal.
The main changes to the existing regulation concern:
- the distinction between the operational and management functions of the college of national members;
- new data protection rules which respect the recent requirements on data protection in the EU institutions;
- the setting up of an executive board to assist the college in its management functions, and to allow for rapid decision-making on non-operational and strategic issues;
- new provisions on annual and multi-annual programming;
- the representation of the Commission in the college and executive board;
- increased transparency and democratic oversight through a mechanism of joint evaluation of Eurojust's activities by the European Parliament and national Parliaments.
Background
Eurojust (European Union Agency for criminal justice cooperation) was created in 2002. It was set up to improve the coordination and cooperation between member states in investigations and prosecutions. It deals with serious cross-border and organised crime.
In 2017, EU countries requested Eurojust’s assistance in 2550 cases. This represents a 10.6 % increase compared to 2016. 849 of these cases were closed during the same year.
