In cross-border crime cases, coordination meetings are designed to bring together the judicial and law enforcement authorities of the involved countries to reach an agreement on their cooperation and the coordination of investigations and prosecutions at national level. Prosecutors, investigative judges and law enforcement representatives come together, share information and agree on the next steps – how to resolve legal and practical issues, what actions to take and which measures to apply. Coordination meetings are held at Eurojust’s premises or via secure videoconferencing. These meetings are fully supported by Eurojust’s expertise and infrastructure.

Coordination meetings

Coordination meetings by crime type (2019–2022)

* These crime types cannot be summed up, since more than one sub-category may apply to a single case.

The data contained in this table were extracted from Eurojust's CMS on 11 January 2023. Due to the ongoing nature of cases, possible discrepancies with previously reported numbers may exist, and statistics may be updated in the future.

In 2022, coordination meetings were organised to tackle all crime types addressed by the Agency. The highest number of coordination meetings were organised to discuss money laundering cases (142), followed by drug trafficking cases (126), and swindling and fraud cases (115). The number of coordination meetings facilitated by Eurojust annually has been steadily increasing over the past 3 years, with a total of 528 coordination meetings organised in 2022.

Coordination centres and joint action days

Coordination centres are an essential part of Eurojust’s judicial toolkit in the fight against organised cross-border crime.

Coordination centres support action days against criminal organisations and terrorist groups, in which arrests, searches, interviews of suspects and witnesses, seizures of evidence and freezing of assets are executed in several countries simultaneously.

Eurojust coordinates the efforts of the competent national authorities, continuously monitors the ongoing operations, assists with legal and practical advice and facilitates the issuing of critical judicial instruments. This support ensures that the actions taken lead to successful prosecutions.

Coordination centres are set up from dedicated rooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology and/or virtually via videoconference facilities, to ensure that evidence and information collected on the ground are swiftly exchanged amongst all involved national authorities in a secure environment.

A second coordination centre room was developed at Eurojust in 2021. This extra coordination centre has proved particularly useful in post-pandemic times, as the Agency saw an increase in physical presence at coordination centres in 2022, including from representatives of judicial and law enforcement authorities taking part in joint action days.

Coordination centres by crime type (2019–2022)

* These crime types cannot be summed up, since more than one sub-category may apply to a single case.

The data contained in this table were extracted from Eurojust's CMS on 11 January 2023. Due to the ongoing nature of cases, possible discrepancies with previously reported numbers may exist, and statistics may be updated in the future.

In 2022, 17 coordination centres were organised to tackle economic crimes, representing more than half of all coordination centres organised by Eurojust during the year. Drug trafficking represented the next crime type for which the most coordination centres (five) were organised in 2022, followed by trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling, for which four coordination centres were organised respectively. Finally, one coordination centre was also organised for a cybercrime case. The total number of coordination centres organised in 2022 (22), was the same as in the previous year.

In November 2022, a Eurojust coordination centre was set up for the first time with the participation of four Liaison Prosecutors from third countries (Albania, Georgia, North Macedonia and Ukraine), in a successful action against massive investment fraud (see the case illustration below for more details).

Eurojust coordinates action against massive investment fraud with hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide

From at least 2016 - Hundreds of thousands of investors all over the world fall victim to fraud by being lured into making fake cryptocurrency investments. Dozens of call centres and hundreds of fraudulent websites are set up by the suspected OCG

2018 - Investigations into the cyber scam begin, with seven countries opening judicial cases against the OCG to date.

Between March 2020 and March 2023 - Thirteen coordination meetings are organised to coordinate the national investigations and prepare for the action day. The Agency facilitates the execution of International Arrest Warrants, EIOs and Letters of Request to third countries.

April 2021 - Eurojust supports and funds a JIT, set up at the request of the Swedish authorities, also involving Albania, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Spain and Ukraine.

8-9 November 2022 - Eurojust sets up a coordination centre to enable rapid cooperation between the involved judicial authorities during the joint action day. Fifteen call centres are searched (6 in Albania, 5 in Georgia, 3 in Ukraine and 1 in North Macedonia), as well as 5 vehicles and 27 other locations, including in Bulgaria. Five suspects are arrested, four in Albania and one in Georgia. Approximately 50 hearings of suspects and witnesses are conducted.

Overall, the seizures include over 500 electronic devices, more than EUR 340 000 in cash, several mobile phones, bank accounts, bank cards, cryptocurrency wallets, ID documents and properties. In Georgia alone, approximately 12 000 000 Euros worth of properties, EUR 480 000 from bank accounts, EUR 565 000 in cash and 15 luxury watches are seized.

Major operation against migrant smuggling in the English Channel

Crime: A criminal network is suspected of using small boats to smuggle up to 10 000 migrants across the English Channel. The suspects charge EUR 2 500 to 3 500 on average per migrant, depending on the migrant’s nationality, to facilitate their transfer across the English Channel. At times, up to 15 boats are launched simultaneously, with only half successfully making it across to the United Kingdom.

Action: During an action day, involving over 900 police officers, 39 suspects are arrested and over 50 locations are searched in what is believed to be the largest ever international operation targeting small boat people smugglers.

Result: Supported by Eurojust and Europol, judicial and law enforcement authorities in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom successfully dismantle the criminal network of people smugglers. Seizures include 1 200 lifejackets, close to 150 boats and 50 engines, several thousand euros in cash, firearms and drugs.

Eurojust's role: Four coordination meetings are hosted by the Agency to facilitate judicial cooperation and the preparation of the joint action day. A coordination centre is set up by Eurojust to enable rapid cooperation between the concerned judicial authorities during the action day.