On Wednesday, 22 May, Member States’ permanent representatives to the EU (Coreper) will endorse the EU Council’s conclusions on synergies between the European judicial cooperation unit, Eurojust, and other networks for judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
Overall, the EU Council’s draft conclusions merely endorse a report containing several avenues for improvement that was collectively prepared by Eurojust, the European Judicial Network, the Genocide Network, the European Judicial Cybercrime Network, and the Network of National Experts on Joint Investigation Teams.
In the conclusions, the EU Council emphasises that each network has a specific role to play in the fight against serious crime but that they complement each other and Eurojust. It therefore encourages them to continue their cooperation with a view to further developing their coordination and synergies and facilitating cooperation in criminal matters in the EU even more effectively.
Moreover, the EU Council supports further consideration of the possibility of establishing a lean secretariat within Eurojust to assist the European Judicial Network with regard to cybercrime. This measure is suggested in the report in order to enable Eurojust to meet the needs and expectations of practitioners in the field of cybercrime.
It should be noted that the text also recognises that Eurojust should have “adequate resources” to carry out its tasks properly without prejudice, however, to the outcome of the discussions on the next multiannual financial framework.
“With the increase in caseload and the cuts in Eurojust’s budget, there is a risk that the support to the networks operates eventually to the detriment of Eurojust’s core mandate, i.e. supporting the coordination of cross-border investigations and prosecutions”, the networks actually stressed in the report.
This work is in line with the broader reflection initiated in the EU Council regarding the improved use of mutual recognition instruments, which are expected to be the subject of a report adopted in June (see EUROPE 12234/14).
The conclusions will be formally adopted by the European Ministers of Justice on 6 June in Luxembourg. See the text: https://bit.ly/2Hu0prl. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)