The president of Eurojust, Ladislav Hamran, came out in favour on Tuesday 19 June of the agreement between the European Parliament and Council of the European Union on the European Commission’s planned reform of the governance of the body he chairs, but is sceptical about giving new anti-terror powers to the new European Prosecutor’s Office.
At a press conference at Eurojust on Wednesday 20 June, Hamran said the political agreement between the Council and Parliament on reform of Eurojust governance was an ‘achievement’ (see EUROPE 12044).
He approved of the new data protection framework which will make it possible to ensure secure data for investigations and judicial investigations.
In addition, Hamran said that the Commission’s presence on Eurojust’s college would allow it to ‘better understand our problems and difficulties, and we believe that our cooperation as partners will be even better.’ He said cooperation and the exchanger of information would be strengthened not only with the European Commission but also with other key partners, such as the future European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).
Quizzed by this newsletter about the breakdown of powers with the EPPO, he said that Eurojust would still have a role since the EPPO’s powers would be restricted to tax fraud exceeding €10 million, which would amount to only three or four cases a year. He said they were preparing to ensure fair coordination to avoid duplication and overlaps.
Hamran was sceptical about the idea of giving the European Prosecutor’s Office powers to fight terrorism, as suggested by Emmanuel Macron (see EUROPE 11870). ‘We would like to understand better, as prosecutors, what is behind this idea and how the EPPO can bring an added value to the current fight against terrorism,’ he said.
The president of Eurojust’s anti-terror group, Fréderic Baab, doubts that such a proposal can be put into practice since it would need to be approved by all member states, even those not taking part in enhanced cooperation, but said all the same that it was an ‘interesting proposal.’ (Original version in French by Carmen García, trainee)