Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

The seminar will have a dual focus. On one hand, the reasons will be explored why, based on the new Eurojust decision and the practical experience of Eurojust, better coordination and collaboration between the judicial authorities of Eurojust and consequently, more effective operation of Eurojust is necessary. In this segment, the approach will be based on article 85 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union. On the other hand, the option provided for in article 86 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union for the establishment of a European public prosecutor’s office will be explored.

The task of Eurojust is to support and reinforce the coordination and collaboration between the national authorities in charge of investigating and prosecuting serious crime affecting two or more member states or requiring prosecution on a joint basis.

The new Eurojust decision on the reinforcement of Eurojust and amending Decision 2002/187/JBZ concerning the establishment of Eurojust in order to reinforce the fight against serious crime, was adopted on 16 December 2008 and is currently being implemented in the national legislation of the various member states of the European Union.

The seminar will have a dual focus. On one hand, the reasons will be explored why, based on the new Eurojust decision and the practical experience of Eurojust, better coordination and collaboration between the judicial authorities of Eurojust and consequently, more effective operation of Eurojust, is necessary. In this segment, the approach will be based on article 85 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.
On the other hand, the option provided for in article 86 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union for the establishment of a European public prosecutor’s office will be explored.
Aspects will be explored such how this may be possible in institutional terms, what the relationship with Eurojust might be and what powers and procedural rules the European public prosecutor’s office would have to respect.

Various speakers will address these two topics and moreover, workshops will be provided so that participants will have the chance to discuss the various aspects.