EU agrees new rules for a more efficient and effective Eurojust
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On 20 June 2018, EU i ambassadors confirmed an agreement reached on 19 June between the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council and the Parliament on rules amending the regulation on Eurojust, the European Union agency for criminal justice cooperation. The regulation establishes a new governance model with the aim of improving the operational effectiveness of the agency.
The revision of the Eurojust regulation also takes into account the establishment of the European public prosecutor's office (EPPO) as well as the new rules on data protection for the Union institutions and bodies agreed by the Council and the Parliament last month.
Eurojust is key to ensuring that we respond effectively to the challenge of cross-border organised crime such as terrorism, illegal immigrant smuggling or cybercrime. With this reform, Eurojust will be more efficient and able to enhance criminal justice cooperation between member states.
Tsetska Tsacheva, Bulgarian Minister of Justice
The main changes in the regulation concern:
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-the distinction between the operational and management functions of the college of national members;
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-new regime on data protection rules adapted to the recent legal framework on data protection for EU institutions;
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-the setting up of an executive board to assist the college in its management functions and to allow for streamlined decision-making on non-operational and strategic issues;
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-new provisions on annual and multi-annual programming;
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-the representation of the Commission in the college and in the executive board;
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-the functions of the Administrative Director;
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-increased transparency and democratic oversight through a mechanism of joint evaluation by the European Parliament and national Parliaments of Eurojust’s activities.
Next steps
The text will now undergo linguistic revision before formal adoption by the Council and the Parliament. The new regulation will then enter into force 20 days after its publication in the EU official journal.