Brussels, 13/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Friday 13 March, the Justice ministers of the member states of the EU agreed upon a general approach to the new rules of Eurojust, with the exception of the aspects of the regulation related to the European prosecutors office, which have been removed from the text for discussion separately.
The reform of Eurojust, the Council explains, aims to increase its effectiveness by establishing a new model of governance. It aims to improve the operational efficiency of the agency by means of the standard definition of the “competences and status of the national members”. The main changes relate to the distinction between the operational functions of the College and its management responsibilities, the creation of an executive board, new provisions on the annual and multi-annual programming, and the representation of the Commission on the executive board. The European Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova, has expressed her dissatisfaction at the approach decided upon by the ministers and lamented the fact that the Commission has been excluded from certain areas of the mechanisms, in particular from the Eurojust College. “The exclusion of the Commission is the most problematic issue; I cannot accept the Commission's exclusion from decisions which concern it, we are involved in budgetary decisions, we oversee the functioning of the agencies. If the Commission is not in the College, it cannot be done”, the Czech official said (our translation). (Solenn Paulic)