The French Presidency of the Council of the European Union (FPEU) has succeeded in advancing two texts of the ‘digitalisation of justice’ package presented by the Commission in December (see EUROPE 12844/12).
Meeting in Luxembourg on 9 June, EU Justice Ministers sealed two political agreements in principle (‘General approach’) on two proposals for regulations. The first concerns the exchange of digital information in terrorism cases, the second establishes a collaboration platform for joint investigation teams.
Both regulations still need to be voted on in the European Parliament before inter-institutional negotiations can start.
Digital information exchange in terrorism cases
The regulation provides for a strengthened role for the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) in cross-border terrorism cases. The aim is to enable Eurojust to better detect links between parallel cross-border investigations and prosecutions for certain terrorist offences, and then to provide feedback to Member States. The Regulation also provides for a secure digital communication channel between Member States and Eurojust, as well as for the establishment of a modernised case management system.
With the new Regulation, Member States will have to provide Eurojust with information on all criminal investigations related to terrorist offences.
See the general approach: https://aeur.eu/f/20v
A new collaboration platform for joint investigation teams
The ministers also agreed on the regulation establishing a collaboration platform for joint investigation teams. These are established between several EU Member States, and possibly a third country or countries to facilitate cross-border investigations.
The collaboration platform provides a centralised information system to enable temporary storage of data, a secure communication tool. The European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) will be responsible for establishing this platform.
The EU Council specifies several rules for the use of the future platform under its administration, as well as the conditions for data storage.
See the general approach: https://aeur.eu/f/20u
Update on electronic evidence
However, the French Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, was unable to announce any ‘white smoke’ on the ‘electronic evidence’ regulation (see EUROPE 12884/1). He informed his counterparts of the latest developments in the inter-institutional negotiations (‘trilogue’) with the Parliament on this text, which has been under discussion for more than three years. This regulation is intended to facilitate access to electronic evidence in the context of a criminal investigation.
Dupond-Moretti welcomed the resumption of the political trilogues, with the next negotiating session on Tuesday 14 June, after four technical meetings since May. “I sense a sincere desire on both sides to move forward, and even to conclude. This is why we are not ruling out, if useful, asking for the organisation of a final political trilogue by the end of the French Presidency”, he indicated.
However, two other sources believe that more time will be needed to reach a full agreement on the settlement. Progress has been made in recent months between the EU Council and the Parliament, which had very divergent positions, notably on the notification regime for requiring electronic evidence.
Unlike the EU Council, the European Parliament called for mandatory notifications for all types of data. However, it has recently taken a step towards Member States by agreeing that the sending of identifying data (such as IP addresses) does not require prior notification. The EU Council, for its part, has compromised by accepting a notification regime for content data (such as conversations), and may even agree to do the same for traffic data.
However, this compromise is only possible if MEPs agree that purely national cases should be excluded from this notification obligation, said the French Justice Minister.
“It will probably take more time to conclude this important dossier, but I hope that the resumption of negotiations will allow agreements to be reached on a few key points”, concluded EU Commissioner Didier Reynders. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)