Agreements on cooperation with third countries

Eurojust can only systematically exchange personal data if agreement concluded with a specific country allows for such transfers or if the European Commission has adopted an adequacy decision for the country in question in the law enforcement and judicial area. To date, Eurojust has 13 such agreements, with Albania, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UK and the United States (US).

Experience has shown that an international agreement that allows for the systematic exchange of personal data and the subsequent secondment of a Liaison Prosecutor to Eurojust, enables a much smoother exchange of information and a considerable increase in cooperation.

Under the previous cooperation strategy, Eurojust proposed the conclusion of international agreements with a number of non-EU countries, and the Council of the European Union authorised the opening of negotiations with 13 of them (Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey). During 2023, Eurojust continued to provide its technical expertise on these international agreements in close cooperation with the European Commission, and participated in the negotiation meetings as an observer.

Liaison Prosecutors

Hosting Liaison Prosecutors from non-EU countries at Eurojust’s premises in The Hague allows Member States’ authorities to cooperate closely with the judicial authorities in these countries. This enables direct operational cooperation between them, leading to more successful investigations and prosecutions.

Currently, 12 third countries have Liaison Prosecutors at Eurojust: Albania, Georgia, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UK and the US. During 2023, 351 new cases were initiated by Liaison Prosecutors at Eurojust, with Switzerland and Albania opening the highest number of cases. The UK, followed by Switzerland, were the countries most requested to participate in new cases opened by National Desks at the Agency in 2023. Liaison Prosecutors were also actively involved in Eurojust’s meetings and instruments to tackle these cases, with the UK, US and Ukraine attending more than 50 coordination meetings, and the UK, Switzerland and Albania participating in more than 20 JITs in the same year.

During 2023, Eurojust welcomed two new Liaison Prosecutors. For the first time, the Republic of Moldova has a prosecutor stationed at Eurojust’s headquarters in The Hague, which will strengthen cooperation with the Moldovan authorities in cases of serious cross-border crime. A new Liaison Prosecutor was also appointed for Norway to continue the strong judicial cooperation that dates back to 2005, when Norway became the first country to sign a cooperation agreement with the Agency. More recently, the first Liaison Prosecutor for Iceland also joined Eurojust, following a cooperation agreement signed by the Icelandic authorities and the Agency in 2005.

Overview of cases in 2023 involving Liaison Prosecutors

* These columns cannot be summed up, since more than one National Desk can be requested to participate in a single case, and coordination meetings and JITs are often co-organised.

Eurojust’s Contact Points

Eurojust has been steadily growing its Contact Points network in third countries, enabling direct contact with the competent authorities when a crime extends beyond the EU’s borders. To date, the network has Contact Points in over 72 countries.

In 2023, nine new third countries joined Eurojust’s Contact Point network: Chad, Ghana, Togo, The Gambia, Tajikistan, Philippines, Mozambique, Kyrgyzstan and Kuwait. During the year, the Agency held 22 meetings with Contact Points to explain the Agency’s role in facilitating judicial cooperation with EU Member States. Moreover, during the year, cooperation with non-EU countries via Contact Points was streamlined thanks to bilateral meetings, a functional mailbox and a cooperation guide.

Cooperation with Latin America and the United States

In recent years, judicial cooperation in criminal matters between EU and Latin American countries has intensified. Latin American criminal networks play a major role in drug trafficking, often in collaboration with EU-based criminal groups. This has led to the establishment of the first four JITs involving Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador with the support of Eurojust. The 19th Annual Meeting of the Network of National Experts on JITs, in October 2023, explored how to step up judicial and law enforcement cooperation between EU Member States and Latin American countries in the fight against serious organised crime (see section 6.1).

During 2023, Eurojust welcomed various prosecutors and policy makers from Latin America to discuss matters of judicial cooperation. In March, the Prosecutor General of the Federative Republic of Brazil met with Eurojust’s President, and in October the Attorney General of Colombia visited the Agency to discuss stepping up cooperation against drug and wildlife trafficking. For the first time, representatives of the Caribbean Community also visited Eurojust, with the support of the PACE Justice Project, which aims to strengthen the institutional capacities of judicial and law enforcement authorities in the Caribbean to effectively manage criminal cases.

Moreover, in November 2023, the Vice-Minister of Justice from the Republic of Colombia visited the Agency with a high-level delegation of officers from the Data Protection Authority, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice and the National Police. The European Commission also participated in the meeting to explain the benefits of concluding an international agreement between the EU and Colombia on cooperation with Eurojust.

Eurojust and the Attorney General of the Republic of Panama signed a Working Arrangement in January 2024, formalising Eurojust’s existing Contact Points in Panama and ensuring closer communication to speed up the execution of judicial cooperation requests on both sides. Panama is the first Latin American country to sign a Working Arrangement with Eurojust.

During 2023, Eurojust continued its cooperation with the United States within the framework of the US-EU expert group on obtaining (e-)evidence, with two meetings organised in March and November, as well as a workshop in June, focusing on the execution of MLA requests for gathering evidence in the United States (see section 3.7).

Cooperation with Southern Neighbourhood and other Middle Eastern countries

In May 2023, the Agency hosted a study visit of representatives of the Iraqi judiciary and the Ministry of Interior. The visit focused on migrant smuggling and was organised in the framework of the UNODC GLO.ACT Asia and the Middle East initiative (the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants).

In June 2023, Eurojust’s President attended the Annual Conference of the Palestinian Public Prosecution, while in November 2023, he attended the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Arab Association of Prosecutors, held in Morocco.

In September 2023, two representatives from the Moroccan Advocate General to the High Court of Cassation and the Ministry of Justice visited Eurojust for two weeks to familiarise themselves with the Agency’s work and its judicial cooperation tools and instruments for cooperation with non-EU countries.

Cooperation with Africa

A delegation from Nigeria and selected West African countries (Cabo Verde, Ghana, Niger and The Gambia), all members of the West African Network of Central Authorities and Prosecutors, visited Eurojust for two days in June 2023. The visit was jointly hosted by the EJN and was facilitated by the UNODC. The visit was instrumental in explaining the mandate and activities of the Agency and the EJN, as well as in learning more about Nigerian legal frameworks and those of other countries in Western Africa, while discussing further cooperation possibilities.

In November 2023, Eurojust and the Attorney General of Nigeria signed a Working Arrangement to enable structured and closer cooperation in the fight against organised crime groups. This paves the way for the establishment of a Contact Point for Eurojust in Nigeria, and makes Nigeria the first sub-Saharan African country to sign a Working Arrangement with the Agency. The Working Arrangement was signed during a conference hosted by Eurojust on Transnational Organised Crime affecting West Africa and Europe, co-organised with UNODC and the Siracusa Institute (see section 3.11).

Cooperation with South East Asia

In May 2023, the Secretary of Justice of the Republic of the Philippines visited Eurojust. As a result of the visit, the authorities of the Philippines designated a Contact Point for the Agency.

Furthermore, in October 2023, a delegation from the South East Asian States, SEA Just, came to Eurojust for a study visit. The delegation learned about Eurojust’s and the EJN’s work and explored possibilities for strengthening international judicial cooperation.

Cooperation with Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus

In April 2023, Eurojust hosted delegations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (members of the Judicial Cooperation Network for Central Asia and Southern Caucasus launched by UNODC) for a study visit to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation between Eurojust and the region.

Cooperation with Moldova

The President of the Republic of Moldova visited Eurojust in September 2023 to discuss the country’s cooperation with the Agency and its further integration into the EU’s judicial cooperation architecture. She met with Eurojust’s President, who underlined the importance of strengthening relations to effectively fight serious cross-border crime and explained the Agency’s activities, including its support for accountability efforts in Ukraine.

Cooperation with the UK

In October 2023, a meeting on Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) cooperation between the European Union and the United Kingdom was held at Eurojust. During the two-day meeting, practitioners learned how to deal effectively and efficiently with requests for MLA involving the UK. Since 1 January 2021, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and UK became applicable, implying changes in judicial cooperation, including in relation to MLA. The MLA form (created in accordance with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement), became mandatory as of 1 September 2023 for all MLA requests to and from the UK, in relation to EU Member States.

EuroMed Justice Project

The EuroMed Justice Project (EMJ) strengthens strategic and operational cooperation among SPCs, EU Member States, Eurojust, the EJN and other EU judicial and law enforcement cooperation agencies. The Programme builds sustainable cross-regional mechanisms of cooperation, strengthens regional judicial training platforms and develops practical tools for cross-border cooperation.

In March 2023, the EMJ organised the ‘EuroMed Environmental Justice Week’. A Conference on Environmental Justice in the Mediterranean was organised by EJM in Algiers, in cooperation with Algeria, Tunisia and France. Several international experts attended, including justice and environmental officials from Algeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia, as well as representatives from Eurojust and the European Commission. In the same week, the EJM organised a training session for EU Member States and SPCs with a focus on environmental crime.

In May 2023, the EuroMed Justice programme jointly organised a Conference on Joint Investigations in Trier, Germany with the Academy of European Law aimed at improving judicial cooperation between SPCs and EU Member States. The conference identified concrete steps to help judicial authorities from SPCs organise joint and parallel investigations among themselves, with the support of the EMJ, and with EU Member States together with Eurojust’s and the JITs Network Secretariat involvement. The Conference gathered nearly 60 officials from all 9 SPCs and 10 EU Member States, as well as representatives of Eurojust, Europol, the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, EPPO, UNODC, the Council of Europe, the Cybercrime Programme Office and the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center.

In June 2023, the first meeting of the EuroMed Justice Network of Contact Points (EMJNet) took place in Rome, during the 17th meeting of CrimEx (the coordination mechanism reuniting participating representatives from SPCs, EU Member States and the EMJNet). Participants discussed two priority areas for strategic cooperation: environmental crime and financial crime. In September 2023, the Larnaca conference, 18th CrimEx and 2nd EMJNet meeting took place in Cyprus and focused on the SPCs’ cooperation with the EU to tackle migrant smuggling.

Throughout 2023, the EMJ continued to implement its 2022-2025 Strategy and the two related action plans on human trafficking and migrant smuggling and asset recovery. EMJ’s fifth phase ended in December 2023, and a new contribution agreement was signed for the next four-year phase, starting in January 2024. The sixth phase of the project will focus on providing more operational support to concrete situations between the SPCs, as well as between them and EU Member States.

Western Balkans Criminal Justice Project

The Western Balkans Criminal Justice (WBCJ) Project was launched in May 2023 during a conference attended by high-level representatives of the regional partners and several EU institutions. Funded by the European Commission and implemented by Eurojust, the initiative aims to strengthen judicial cooperation within the Western Balkans as well as between the region and the EU in the fight against organised crime and terrorism. The participating countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo^[1], North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

In March 2023, the WBCJ Project established the Contact Group of practitioners from the Western Balkans region in charge of the coordination of cross-border cases and organised five meetings of the Contact Group.

Following these meetings, the WBCJ Project funded three coordination meetings among Western Balkan authorities and one investigative measure within a JIT in the region. Moreover, the project supported the participation of Western Balkan practitioners in seven coordination meetings organised in relation to Eurojust cases. The project also supported the signing of three JITs in the Western Balkans.

In June 2023, the WBCJ Project organised a webinar on EU jurisprudence on admissibility of evidence obtained from Sky ECC and Encrochat networks, in cooperation with the European Judicial Cybercrime Network (EJCN). The webinar, attended by over 300 participants, informed Western Balkan practitioners about the latest trends in EU courts regarding the admissibility of evidence obtained from encrypted networks.

In July 2023, the WBCJ project organised a regional seminar on challenges and opportunities of JITs between EU Member States and Western Balkan Partners in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The seminar was organised in cooperation with the JITs Network Secretariat and the Focus Group on Migrant Smuggling. This first event organised by the project in the region was attended by more than 50 prosecutors and law enforcement officers from the six Western Balkan partner countries. The seminar highlighted successful case studies involving EU Member States and Western Balkan countries.

In September 2023, as part of its outreach strategy in each Western Balkan country, the WBCJ Project organised a seminar for Montenegrin practitioners on judicial cooperation tools offered by the Agency and the project in Budva, Montenegro.

In October 2023, the project financed a training session delivered by the JITs Network Secretariat on JITs funding for Albania’s National Bureau of Investigations and Special Anti-Corruption Structure.

In line with the project’s objective to cooperate with EU networks, in November 2023, the WBCJ Project supported the participation of six prosecutors from the Western Balkan region in the Eurojust Annual Meeting on Migrant Smuggling, as well as the participation of eight practitioners from the Western Balkans at the 61st Plenary Meeting of the EJN in Madrid.

Actions across Europe against online fraud with cryptocurrencies

Crime: Fraudulent call centres and websites of alleged financial trading companies in Ukraine and Georgia are uncovered, following a complaint by a victim to the Swiss authorities in October 2019. The perpetrators use over 100 websites, posing as serious investment companies, offering financial transactions in cryptocurrencies and trading options. After potential investors show interest, they are approached over the phone and lured into making considerable investments. Most of the victims are Swiss and German investors, who lose at least several million euros.

Action: In 2023, targeted actions are taken in several countries where searches take place and bank accounts and assets are frozen. Moreover, during a coordinated action day in April 2023, further judicial measures are taken in 13 countries, to freeze and seize the suspects’ bank accounts and assets.

Result: During the action day, the simultaneous freezing of several accounts in several EU countries successfully prevents assets from being shifted to different bank accounts. Thanks to the effective and efficient coordination of this major case involving 13 countries, the investment scam is disrupted.

Eurojust's Role: The coordination of this large and complex case between EU countries and third States with Liaison Prosecutors would not have been possible without Eurojust’s support. The Agency has provided crucial assistance to the case since December 2020, helping to set up a joint investigation team into the fraud between the Swiss and Ukrainian judicial and police authorities. Furthermore, Eurojust’s Liaison Prosecutor for Georgia is instrumental in facilitating the shutdown of the infrastructure and criminal activities in the country. Eurojust also supports three coordination meetings to arrange the coordinated action day.

Successful takedown of drug trafficking network in Italy and Albania

Crime: A criminal network is allegedly responsible for the large-scale trafficking of cocaine, cannabis and heroin, mainly from Albania to Italy.

Action: In January 2023, a joint action day involving the Italian and Albanian authorities is managed in real time from Eurojust’s coordination centre. During the joint operation, supported by some 350 officers on the ground, 30 suspects are arrested and 31 locations are searched. Five rifles, one pistol and six vehicles are also seized. Property worth EUR 1 million (equivalent to the proceeds of the criminal offense) is seized in Albania.

Result: Eurojust and Europol successfully support judicial and law enforcement authorities in Italy and Albania in dismantling the drug trafficking network.

The case is sent to court for trial in December 2023. 21 defendants are charged with drug trafficking and participation in a structured organised crime group.

Eurojust's Role: The case is opened at Eurojust and Europol in 2019. The Agency supports the authorities by setting up and funding a joint investigation team. Eurojust organises two coordination meetings for the involved authorities to exchange information and agree on the prosecutorial strategy.

[1] This designation is made without prejudice to positions on status and is in accordance with UNSCR 1244/ 1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence