Commission strengthens Europol and Eurojust to step up the fight against cross-border crime and terrorism

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the European Commission is proposing new measures to strengthen the EU’s response to an evolving criminal landscape. Crime is becoming more sophisticated, international and digital. To tackle serious crime effectively, police, customs, prosecutors and courts need to work closely together from the start of an investigation to the final court judgment.  

Today’s proposals cover the full chain of EU support to Member States, from prevention, detection and investigation to judicial cooperation and effective prosecution. The package includes two regulations to strengthen the mandates of Europol and Eurojust, a revision of the European Investigation Order, and amendments to the Data Protection Regulation for Union institutions and bodies. 

These measures will improve cooperation and complementarity between EU agencies and national authorities, including police, customs and courts. They will support more joint investigations, speed up prosecutions, and facilitate the exchange of information through a clearer legal framework and less administrative burden. 

Europol and Eurojust are at the core of the EU’s response to organised criminal networks, terrorists and hostile actors that are operating across borders, globally and online, and increasingly abusing artificial intelligence. With these proposals, the Commission is delivering on President von der Leyen‘s political guidelines and the EU’s internal security strategy, ProtectEU. 

Europol: Fighting crime across borders

As the EU’s centre for law enforcement cooperation, Europol helps Member States connect information, expertise and investigations – this is key in investigating cross-border cases as no national authority holds the full picture of today’s criminal threats.

With the new rules, Europol will better support Member States with:

1. More efficient and secure information exchange: Automated and faster information sharing will enable real-time collaboration on investigations. Europol will establish a secure, scalable and sovereign cloud infrastructure, and a Police Shared Data Space, so investigators can work jointly – virtually – on common cases.   
2. Stronger operational support for Member States: Europol Support Offices will be set up in Member States and staffed by police officers who have previously worked at Europol. This will ensure better use of Europol support and tools (e.g. in forensics and data analysis and by facilitating access to Europol’s systems).
3. A technology and innovation hub, providing for the first time an EU-wide picture of capability needs for law enforcement. It will also support Member States’ investment in joint research and development. This will help Member States invest together in critical technologies and ensure access to advanced capabilities. The tools developed will be made available via the European Police Shared Data Space directly to Member States’ law enforcement authorities.
4. Stronger cooperation with EU agencies and bodies (notably with Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office).
5. Reinforced international cooperation with partner countries to jointly tackle global cross-border crime.

By automating processes and pooling common resources, these proposed measures will simplify workflows, reduce the administrative burden for Member States, and result in administrative savings and efficiency gains for the Agency and for Member States.

Eurojust: Stronger support to prosecutors and judicial authorities

The new mandate will significantly strengthen Eurojust’s capacity to support national authorities. It strengthens Eurojust across the following key areas:

1. Stronger capabilities and operational support: Eurojust will be able to act on its own initiative to identify links between cases, anticipate and decide on the need for coordination, help resolve jurisdiction issues, and support national authorities early in the process.
2. Further support in emerging areas of crime: Eurojust’s mandate will also be expanded to strengthen its involvement in emerging areas of crime, such as cybercrime, the violations of EU restrictive measures, or gender-based violence.
3. Stronger governance and decision-making: streamline decision-making, with more agile processes, administrative efficiency gains, and faster action in urgent and complex cases.
4. An integrated EU criminal justice system: Eurojust will improve and strengthen its cooperation with Europol and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. A new information system will allow to easily identify information and cases of relevance to both Eurojust and Europol.
5. Stronger international engagement by allowing engagement with third countries from an earlier point, making cooperation with third countries more flexible. Stronger cooperation will also be possible where financial commitments are needed or liaison prosecutors are seconded to Eurojust.

Strengthening the European Investigation Order and the Data Protection Regulation for Union institutions and bodies

The Commission is also proposing to update the European Investigation Order, a fast and standard procedure for the cross-border gathering of evidence from other Member States in criminal matters. The new rules will make it easier to apply the European Investigation Order by clarifying procedures and removing operational challenges.

It also introduces a new European Remote Participation Order to allow suspects, accused persons and victims to participate remotely in criminal court hearings from a different Member State.

The Commission is also proposing to update the Data Protection Regulation for Union institutions and bodies (EUDPR). The revised Regulation will allow for more effective cooperation across the EU criminal justice institutions and bodies, including by extending it to the EPPO.

For more information

Questions and answers

Factsheet – Europol

Factsheet – Eurojust

ProtectEU Internal Security Strategy

Cooperation with Europol

Eurojust

Taking of evidence in another EU country

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol)

Impact assessment on the proposal for the Europol revision

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Establishment of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust)

Impact assessment report accompanying the document – Proposal for the Revision of the Eurojust Regulation

Proposal for a Regulation amending the Data Protection Regulation for EU Institutions and Bodies

Proposal for a Directive regarding the European Investigation Order

Annexes to the Proposal for a Directive regarding the European Investigation Order