The Portuguese Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, gave an update on Thursday 11 March at the Justice Council on the interinstitutional negotiations (trilogue) underway on the legislative proposals to facilitate access to electronic evidence in criminal investigations (see EUROPE 12003/18). Following a first trilogue on 10 February, which she noted was held “in an extremely positive atmosphere”, the next meeting is scheduled for 18 March and technical meetings are underway to prepare it, she said. “We are aware of the political and technical complexity of this package and the challenges it presents. We are working to reach a compromise, which is satisfactory and maintains the general approach approved by the Council and we hope that we can make significant progress in this extremely important area”, she said. (MF)