Cooperation among the Member States and with non-European countries has been a key factor in the decrease in the number of the pirate attacks in the important shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden during the past four years. Countries have worked together, both to ensure free passage through the international waters in this region, and to bring pirates to justice. The European Union is actively contributing to the deterrence, repression and disruption of piracy off the coast of Somalia, while the Council of the European Union has extended the EU’s counter-piracy Operation ATALANTA until 12 December 2016.

Eurojust continues to support judicial cooperation among the Member States and with third States in the investigation and adjudication of maritime piracy incidents. In the past years, practitioners in a number of Member States have found themselves involved in judicial proceedings against alleged pirates, and Eurojust has offered its assistance to the relevant national authorities by organising coordination meetings to solve the practical and legal challenges faced in their cases. To provide practitioners with an additional forum to report on legal obstacles and solutions, Eurojust produced the Maritime Piracy Judicial Monitor, first published in September 2013.