On Thursday 19 October, the committee on civil liberties (LIBE) adopted the report by Axel Voss (EPP, Germany) on the reform of the governance model of Eurojust, the European judicial cooperation agency, by 51 votes to 5.
The position of the LIBE members on the proposed reform, which was presented by the European Commission in July 2013 (see EUROPE 10890), remains faithful to the rapporteur's aim of establishing a clear separation between Eurojust and the new body to fight fraud against the financial interests of the EU, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), which is due to be operational in 2020.
The MEPs agreed that Eurojust should be able to carry out its missions by request of the competent national authorities, but also by request of EPPO. This clarification, called for by members of the ALDE group, aims to clarify the division of competences between the two bodies, specifically as regards member states that have decided not to join the EPPO enhanced cooperation. A compromise between political groups was also adopted to specify that EPPO may count on the support of the Eurojust administration, which may provide it with services of common interest.
On the distinction between the operational and administrative functions of the Eurojust College, MEPs agreed that the provisions should be clearly set out in order to reduce the administrative burden on the national members to a minimum. The MEPs also considered that the College should exercise powers of appointing the administrative director and adopt procedural rules.
On the protection of data held by Eurojust, the MEPs adopted a compromise stating that Regulation (45/2001) should apply to the protection of personal data processed by Eurojust in the context of its activities. The distinction with the treatment of data for operational purposes proposed by the rapporteur, which was not supported by the ALDE and Greens/EFA groups, seems to have been dropped.
The Council adopted its partial position, not including the provisions on EPPO, in March 2015 (see EUROPE 11274), which means that once the Parliament's approach has been approved by plenary and it has accepted the mandate, inter-institutional negotiations may begin. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)