The outcome of interinstitutional negotiations on reform of the governance template for Eurojust, the European agency for judicial cooperation, is becoming clearer.
According to a source familiar with the issue, progress was made during the last technical meetings in April and the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU still aims to conclude negotiations by the end of its term of office, on 30 June this year.
Adoption of the co-legislator positions on this reform, presented in June 2013 (see EUROPE 10890), had been delayed due to the connection between this dossier and discussions on the creation of the European public prosecutor’s office. The first trialogues had therefore not begun until November 2017 and were not making real headway.
Nonetheless, the recent technical meetings – the last being held on 26 April – notched up progress on the link between Eurojust and the European prosecutor, provisions relating to meetings of the Eurojust college and the possibility for the relevant authority of a member state to call on Eurojust for assistance in its investigations and proceedings at national level, which would have repercussions at EU level.
Major headway was also made in that Parliament and Council agreed on the arrangements for election of the Eurojust president and vice-presidents. At the end of January, we recall, when the question seemed to be settled, Parliament decided to reopen the compromise provision (see EUROPE 11929).
According to a document from the Bulgarian presidency and obtained by EUROPE, the co-legislators finally agreed that, in the event of a two-thirds majority of the members of the Eurojust college not being reached after the second ballot round, the election of the vice-presidents would take place by simple majority of the college members, while the two-thirds majority would still be needed for electing the president.
Several political points have still to be resolved - first of all, the number of Commission representatives within the Eurojust college. The compromise currently on the table provides for a single representative who should also be represented within the executive council. The Commission hoped to have two representatives when the college carries out its administrative duties.
The question of the obligation for member states to keep Eurojust informed of all cross-border procedures involving at least three countries has, moreover, been reopened (see EUROPE 11929).
The Council hopes there will be a “financial compensation mechanism” for the country of origin of the elected member, when it is necessary to strengthen the national office linked to an increase in the burden of work. Such a provision still causes Parliament hesitation (see EUROPE 11914).
Provisions on data protection remain open until trialogue talks are concluded on review of the regulation (45/2001) on the processing of personal data by EU institutions and bodies.
A source close to the dossier says that, on this text also, progress has been made and the Bulgarian authorities consider it quite possible for an agreement to be found by 25 May – the date when it takes effect (see EUROPE 11963).
These last stumbling blocks will be the subject of an upcoming political trialogue, the date of which has not yet been fixed. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)